Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams (Photo by Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports)
The Detroit Lions have no shortage of needs heading into the draft. With that being the case, should they add to their biggest strength with their top-pick?
We are three weeks away from the NFL draft and trades continue to shape the top of the order. In the process, it would seem to have limited the Lions’ possibilities of trading back.
Now new general manager Brad Holmes has not committed to a course of action. This is good because showing your hand only hurts a franchise. See last year when former general manager Bob Quinn espoused his undying commitment to Matthew Stafford then said the Lions didn’t trade down because they didn’t have a partner to make a deal with.
A little cloak and dagger secrecy goes a long way towards helping a team create enough mystique to accomplish their goal. Whether the goal is to make a draft-day trade or create doubt about a player that a team hopes will fall to them, the less revealed the better the opportunity to make your plan happen.
In the case of the Lions, they have plenty of needs to be addressed. Staying at number seven and getting a premiere player isn’t the worst-case scenario. However, if there are a handful of players that intrigue them and Brad Holmes can trade back and acquire additional picks along with selecting a player they like, then that is absolutely a win.
But despite last year’s draft-day ‘no trade partner’ fiasco, you do need someone to trade with in order to make a deal. With Carolina’s trade for former Jet quarterback Sam Darnold, that makes the opportunities to trade back just a little slimmer by conventional wisdom.
It doesn’t make it impossible though. After all, many people said it would be impossible to acquire multiple first-round draft picks for Matthew Stafford. Yet Brad Holmes did just that. Maybe that was helped by the Rams’ desperation to get rid of Jared Goff, but considering Holmes wanted Goff as well as the picks, it has to be considered a win for Detroit.
But if the Lions are unable to trade back, then what? Would it be wrong for Brad Holmes to fortify one of Detroit’s few strengths?