The charade is over. The Lions were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Minnesota's 20-13 win over Chicago Monday night. The Vikings (8-6) host the Redskins (7-7) this week, and the Lions (6-8) cannot pass whoever wins in the standings. That means it's time to start looking towards the future.

Chances are, the Lions will field a dramatically different team next year. Defensively, Dewayne White, Cory Redding and Ernie Sims are the only guaranteed starters in the front seven, while Gerald Alexander and Daniel Bullocks should anchor the secondary at safety. Beyond that, Boss Bailey will be a free agent, Kalimba Edwards likely will be released, Shaun Rogers' future is cloudy and Detroit's cornerback situation is in disrepair. There are too many holes to count, and that's not including the offensive side of the ball (where right tackle and running back need upgrades).

The first and most important order of business is determining what to do with Rogers. The overweight defensive tackle remains one of the best pure talents on the team, but the Lions can't live with him taking another half season off. He's due $4.25 million next year, and likely won't fetch much in a trade considering his bad knees, spotty production and previous drug suspension. The Lions almost certainly will shop Rogers, but it'd be better for their immediate future if they could get him in a weight-loss clinic and coax one more season from his out-of-shape bones.

That would allow them to target an impact free agent at another position, with their two most pressing needs being cornerback (New England's Asante Samuel, Seattle's Marcus Trufant and Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha all could hit the market) and pass rusher (can Baltimore's Terrell Suggs be an every-down end?). In the draft, the Lions almost certainly will have another top-15 pick. While that won't net them a Jake Long or James Laurinaitis (assuming he comes out), they should be able to land starters at linebacker and offensive tackle in the first two rounds.

Of course, next year's schedule includes nine games against potential playoff teams (Minnesota and Green Bay twice each, plus Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Tennessee, New Orleans and Tampa), so all the upgrades in the world might not prevent an eighth straight losing season.