The Detroit Lions are in a comfortable position after a 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football that moved them to 5-2. Detroit has looked like the class of the NFC, and a well-timed bye week will give them some much-needed rest and allow some injured players like Kerby Joseph, Terrion Arnold, D.J. Reed, and Marcus Davenport time to recover.
And as the NFL trade deadline approaches, it naturally begs the question of whether the Lions will make a move to bolster their roster as they gear up for a run at the NFC North title and potentially a top seed in the conference.
The Lions made a splash at last year’s deadline, acquiring pass rusher Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns for a fifth- and sixth-round pick. Detroit was in dire need of pass-rush help after Aidan Hutchinson and Davenport were both lost for the year with injuries, and Smith wound up being a productive player for them.
The Lions have had similar injury problems on defense this year, most notably suiting up against Tampa Bay with both starting cornerbacks and safeties out. But those injuries aren’t considered as long-term as the ones that plagued their front seven last year.
“The good news is that we are going to start to get a lot of players back,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “You are going to see players start to come back over the next month, so that is encouraging.”
“While we are only getting better and better, we are going to start getting some of our players back, too.”
All of those secondary players are expected to return relatively soon. Arnold has already returned to practice, Brian Branch was suspended, Reed is eligible to return from injured reserve in Week 10, and Joseph’s knee injury has been nagging him but is not considered long-term.
The Lions are also expected to get back linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez from a torn ACL relatively soon, as well as Davenport.
Lions don’t desperately need to make a big move at the NFL trade deadline
All of that to say, the Lions probably don’t feel like they need to make a move this deadline the same way they did last year.
They have virtually zero needs on the offensive side of the ball, and their main defensive holes will be addressed once players return from injury. And after their backup secondary put up a fantastic performance on Monday night, they’ve got to be feeling pretty good about their depth anyway.
The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini reported that Detroit has been “making calls, looking for an edge rusher,” but said in the same report that this deadline is expected to be relatively quiet, especially compared to last year.
While there remains as much of a market as ever for good players, Russini reported that an NFL coach said there aren’t enough teams willing to part with theirs.
And if Detroit really does want to add an edge rusher, their options appear limited in terms of high-end talent. The Las Vegas Raiders have reportedly already told Michigan native Maxx Crosby they aren’t trading him, and the Cincinnati Bengals aren’t expected to move Trey Hendrickson since they believe they can make a run in the second half.
Miami’s Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, Tennessee’s Arden Key, and the Jets’ Jermaine Johnson have all been floated as potential options. But Chubb is on a big contract lasting until 2027 that the Lions likely won’t want to pay, and Johnson is a former first-rounder still on his rookie contract. It would be a surprise to see New York move him anywhere.
Phillips and Key are the most realistic options for Detroit, since they’re both on expiring contracts and play for teams that are likely to go through something of a fire sale, or as close to one as you can get in the NFL.
But the Lions don’t own their third-round pick in 2026, and so the value of their fourth- and fifth-rounders becomes a lot more intriguing. They could go all-in on this season and give up one or both of those picks, but it would leave Brad Holmes with limited draft capital, which is something the Lions have always prioritized.
Detroit is unlikely to make a big splash at the deadline. If they do, it will likely be a pass rusher. But they’re returning a litany of key players from injury at the bye week, and that might be what they view as a de facto deadline. The defense’s health isn’t nearly as much of an emergency as it was this time a year ago.
