Fox Sports Radio host Rob Parker said earlier this week that he believes the Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell era is headed into its final chapter.
Parker’s remarks come as part of a reaction to the news of Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s arrest. Arnold, a 2024 first-round NFL draft pick, is facing multiple felony charges after he was arrested Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., in connection with a robbery and kidnapping in early February.
“I am now convinced—anybody listening to my voice in Detroit or the suburbs—this is the beginning of the end of Dan Campbell. A bad season here, and I expect the Lions to make a change, because this will be two bad years possibly, right? Not making the playoffs, a blown chance against Washington when they were the No. 1 team in the NFC, and a blown chance at a Super Bowl. They were two quarters, a half away from getting in the Super Bowl.
“And even Dan Campbell said it then. Remember? He was bummed out. He said, ‘We may never get back to this place again,'” Parker said.
The Lions let a 24-7 halftime lead slip away in an eventual 34-31 loss against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game to cap its 2023 season. In 2024, Detroit earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history, but the Lions were stunned in the divisional round by then-rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, 45-31.
Detroit slipped back to 9-8 last season and missed the playoffs altogether.
Parker pointed to those missed opportunities in the playoffs, to last season’s regression and to the Lions’ changing personnel as reasons why Campbell is headed into the “beginning of the end.”
“So, who’s the weak link now in the NFC North? Is it the Detroit Lions who keep hemorrhaging players? And their star center had to quit. Tried to come back, he wasn’t (able to), failed the physical. Like, you could go on and on and on. They couldn’t pay their second running back. They had to dump him, let him go on his merry way. Couldn’t pay him. You can’t pay everybody.
“And, as I look at this roster and look at this team hemorrhaging players, it’s not the same from three years ago. The demise of the Lions has started big-time, and I expect Dan Campbell to be the casualty after this season,” Parker said.
While Parker is a naysayer, the Lions have the best odds to win the NFC North at +180, per DraftKings. Detroit also topped ESPN’s recent worst-to-first rankings, indicating there are plenty that believe the Lions will leap right back into Super Bowl contention this coming season.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Rob Parker: Lions’ Dan Campbell era entering ‘beginning of the end’
Reporting by Josh Helmer, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Josh Helmer, Lions Wire | USA TODAY Network
