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Ever since Barry Sanders, who is considered one the best running back in NFL history, decided to call it quits back in 1999, the Detroit Lions have been arguably the worst team in the league with little or no hope for the future.

No matter what moves this team has made over the past decade or so, the Lions have continued to lose every single season and seem permanently stuck in last place in one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL in the NFC North.

Competing with teams like the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers within their division every single season, Detroit has had a rough ride throughout the years has found it really difficult to find any momentum moving forward.

Fortunately, last season the Detroit Lions may have seen some light at the end of the tunnel as they drafted quarterback Matthew Stafford the number one overall pick in may have built a foundation on which they can improve upon with every passing season.

Along with one of the most promising quarterbacks in the league, the Lions also have arguably one of the best young receivers in Calvin Johnson. There is no doubt that these two will combine for one most lethal dynamic duos in the NFL, but becoming a playoff team might still be a few years away as they also have to address other needs for their struggling NFL franchise.

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One of those needs was improving their defense and they got a huge addition to defensive side of the football recently in the 2010 NFL Draft recently when they drafted arguably the best defensive player in the draft in Nebraska’s defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh with the second overall pick.

With the addition of Suh, the Detroit Lions will almost certainly be better on the defensive side of the football next season, but they still have a ways to go before they can be considered a force be reckoned with in the NFC Conference.

Even though big-name college football players that get drafted early in the top ten of the draft demand a lot of money when negotiating their rookie contracts, the Lions had no problems coming to terms with their defensive tackle as they agreed to a five-year deal worth $68 million dollars with $40 million guaranteed.

Now that the Detroit Lions have agreed to terms with their rookie, they can concentrate on next season and what they will need to do the other compete with the best the best in the NFC conference.

Despite almost certainly missing the playoffs once again next season, I believe the Detroit Lions might surprise some people as they could quickly turn into one of the most potent offenses in the NFL with Stafford behind center and Johnson downfield. They still have to improve out of the backfield with their running game, but that should materialize over time when the air attack becomes amongst the best in the league.

So even though Matthew Stafford and company will most likely finish in fourth place once again in the NFC North, they might give the kids the Chicago Bears a run for their money for third place and maybe even second place the Green Bay Packers struggle early in the season.