After starting slowly in free agency, the Lions are finally starting to get signatures on contracts. First off, I loved the Kitna trade, not because it was a such a steal — I think Kitna has real value, even if he didn’t figure in the Lions’ plans — but because the acquisition of Anthony Henry was a great initial step toward getting Gunther Cunningham what he wants. When Cunningham arrived as defensive coordinator, he talked about his experience in Kansas City the last couple of years where he had a ton of young players and couldn’t do much with them. He wasn’t bashing rookies, just pointing out that you need a veteran core to set the example and bring some experience to the unit.

Having cut pretty much their entire secondary, the Lions were in a position where I worried they would be starting two rookie CBs. Instead they got Henry, and yesterday added Phillip Buchanon, one of the better corners in a fairly weak free agent class at the position. So now the Lions have two veterans to start on the corners, which is a huge advantage compared to the alternative. (And by veterans, I mean “players in their prime” as opposed to the Ghost of Brian Kelly we saw in 2008.) The Lions even signed another veteran corner, Eric King, for depth and special teams.

The team also signed Grady Jackson as a run-stuffing DT. And I’ll tell you what: Cliff Avril, Dewayne White, Grady Jackson and Cory Redding isn’t a bad front four. I know lots of mock drafts have the Lions taking Mississippi DT Peria Jerry with their second first-round choice, but compared to the team’s other needs, I think it barely registers. Besides, the Lions have been stocking up on project D-liners the last couple of years, and I’d hate to push DT Andre Fluellen out of the rotation before he has a chance to develop.

Anyhow, the Lions have added three solid-looking veteran starters to the defense without breaking or really even denting the bank. (I know solid-looking and solid are different things, especially when it’s the Lions, but for now that’s all we have to go on.) Add Dewayne White, Ernie Sims and Cory Redding to that list, and you have a majority of starters who have been around the block and acquitted themselves well in the process.

Suddenly the team is much closer to giving Gunther what he wants. That’s especially true if the Lions address their glaring need at linebacker, but we’ll leave the Aaron Curry crusade for another day.