Last year the Detroit Lions were in the market for receiver help just before the start of training camp and they made a trade with the Jets for former second-round pick Denzel Mims.
Here we are a year later and the team that made that trade, and then made another trade for a receiver during the season (Donovan Peoples-Jones) before losing their number two receiver (Josh Reynolds) in this years free agency, could be looking for receiver help again before camp. We have a very inexpensive choice and it’s someone that resembles Mims, but may have more promise and could actually make the team.
That’s Carolina Panthers receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. The former second-round pick was given permission to seek a trade last year, but no deal was made.
With the Panthers bringing in Dionte Johnson in free agency and Xavier Legette in the draft, NFL Insider Ari Meirov suggests that the Panthers could be looking to deal him.
What does Marshall potentially bring to the Lions? Well, he has that big body that we’ve been talking about the Lions needing. Marshall is 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. He also has 4.38 speed and a 40-inch vertical. He can go up and get it.
The last great part is that he is still on his rookie deal, so the Lions wouldn’t have to pay him top dollar to make this happen. He also isn’t going to be commanding a large extension or new contract since he still has yet to prove himself.
It hasn’t happened for him because he has a bad attitude or doesn’t have talent. It’s because he’s been in a bad situation. Since getting drafted in 2021, Marshall has had five different starting quarterbacks, three different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators. It would be hard for anyone to develop in that chaos.
The Lions are a significantly more stable situation for him and they have coaches that have already taken guys like Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond and turned them into pretty good players. This could be the best possible landing spot for him.
What would this trade cost? That’s the beauty of it, it’s risk free. The Lions could realistically offer the Panthers the same deal that they got Mims with. A conditional future seventh round pick with the pick turning into a sixth-round pick if Marshall makes the Lions roster. The other side of that condition is that trade is voided if he doesn’t.