When you finish an NFL season with a 0-16 record, there’s nowhere to go but up.

In 2009, the Detroit Lions took that first step back towards respectability when they hired rookie head coach Jim Schwartz, who led the team to a 2-14 record.

Now, the Lions are preparing to take another step in the right direction.

The free agent market opens at 12:01am eastern Friday morning, and the Detroit front office will be ready to go.

"We'll be ready to be on the phone after midnight,' Lions president Tom Lewand told Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com. "We'll see where it takes us. We're prepared. We've done a good job of getting ready and we're looking forward to it starting.'

While the Lions currently have several pressing needs—not to mention the least talented roster in the NFL—you’d have to imagine they plan on seriously addressing the defensive side of the football.

Detroit has ranked dead last in total defense and points allowed in each of the past three seasons.
The team is rumored to be interested in defensive ends Aaron Kampman (Green Bay) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (Tennessee).

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