With no real role for D’Andre Swift in the present, Brad Holmes had to do the right thing for the Detroit Lions‘ future.
The Lions traded Swift to the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday, two days after they used their first-round pick on Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs. In return, they received a 2025 fourth-round pick and a swap of seventh-round choices this year.
They used the seventh-round pick, No. 219 overall, on North Carolina receiver Antoine Green.
“It’s my job to keep laser-focused on the present but probably even more importantly, keep laser-focused on the future,” Holmes said. “And that’s what went into a lot of the decisions with having to make the trade with D’Andre Swift to Philly. He was in the last year of his contract and if I go back to last year, I felt really good about us being able to bring back Jamaal Williams. I felt confident as the season ended. I felt good with our conversations with his camp, and it didn’t happen. So you have to just be prepared for all those things.”
JEFF SEIDEL: Lions emerge from NFL draft with roster in great shape. Now it’s time to win
ANALYSIS: Winners and losers from the Lions’ 2023 NFL draft
A second-round pick out of Georgia in 2020, Swift played in 40 games over three seasons for the Lions. He amassed nearly 3,000 yards from scrimmage with 18 rushing touchdowns and seven receiving touchdowns, but battled injuries most of his career.
Last year, Swift ran for a career-high 144 yards in a Week 1 loss to the Eagles, but sprained his ankle in that game and had just 398 yards rushing the rest of the season.
Swift’s future in Detroit appeared bleak after the Lions took Gibbs with the 12th pick of Thursday’s first round.
Gibbs and Swift have similar skill sets as smaller dual-threat backs, and Holmes intimated that night he was open to trading Swift.
JEFF SEIDEL: Matthew Stafford trade finally complete, putting Lions in incredible position
“I mean, D’Andre, he’s still on our roster, he’s still part of our team, he’s still under contract with us,” Holmes said Thursday. “He’s a dynamic football player, so it hadn’t really changed the math there, yet. But it is early.”
On Saturday, Holmes said he and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman spent “a few days” hammering out trade compensation.
Swift, a Philadelphia native with one year left on his contract, should compete for a starting job this fall in an Eagles backfield that also includes Kenneth Gainwell and Rashaad Penny.
He is the third member of the Lions’ 2020 draft class the team has jettisoned in April. The Lions also traded Jeff Okudah, their first-round choice that season, to the Atlanta Falcons for a fifth-round pick, and released receiver Quintez Cephus after he was suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games.
DAVE BIRKETT: Brad Holmes deserves benefit of doubt, but Lions’ ignorance of analytics could backfire
They have three members of their 2020 draft left on their roster: Offensive linemen Jonah Jackson and Logan Stenberg and linebacker Julian Okwara.
Gibbs will split time in the Lions backfield with David Montgomery, who the Lions signed to replace Williams in free agency. Gibbs ran for 926 yards, caught 44 passes for 444 yards and returned kicks at Alabama last season.
“The thing with Jahmyr Gibbs is, that’s the guy that we loved,” Holmes said. “But again, having to keep that laser-focused for the future, all those things come a part of it but also we want to do the right thing for the player, and so that’s kind of how we do it. And so I think at the end of the day, him being able to go back to his hometown on a really, really good team that was just in the Super Bowl, I think it was a win-win for all parties involved.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.