We’re in trade season right now. As everyone knows, trades in the NFL always seem to include a draft pick or multiple draft picks. There were 16 deadline trades in 2022 and all 16 of them had a draft pick involved.
The Detroit Lions are expected to be buyers at this years deadline and if they take a big enough swing, they might have to trade away their next first round pick. There’s just one thing about that pick, the Lions are slated to make it front of their home crowd since the 2024 NFL Draft takes place in Detroit.
That’s caused Lions fans to assume that there’s just no way the team will trade that pick. Why would they do that? They’re going to want to hold onto that pick so they can make it in front of the home crowd.
I just don’t see it that way.
It doesn’t make much sense to me to hold onto a draft pick. just becasue the you’re making it in front of your fans, when you could use that pick to get a player that could be much better than who you wind up selecting in the draft anyways.
What would you rather have in the immediate future? A Pro Bowl caliber edge rusher on the opposite side of Aidan Hutchinson or to cheer real loud for a guy that you’re not 100% sure is even going to be good?
If it were me, I’d rather the Lions have no draft picks in the 2024 draft if it meant they had a roster strong enough to contend for a Super Bowl this year. I’ve seen a lot a draft picks in my life and I don’t think any of them would make me as happy as that.
This wouldn’t be the first time that the city hosting the draft had a team that didn’t have a first round pick. You don’t even have to look very far. The Raiders didn’t pick until the third round of the 2022 draft despite it being in Las Vegas. They traded their first round pick for Davante Adams.
The Raiders gave up the opportunity to draft a player in the first round in front of their fans, but gave their fans the best receiver in the game. I don’t see any problem there.
Not to mention that Brad Holmes has displayed that he loves to move those draft picks around. He’s made 16 trades since he got to Detroit and they all have a draft pick, or draft picks, involved in them. He’s traded up in the first-round and he’s traded down in the first-round. Eventually he’ll just flat trade out of the first-round. The big difference this year is that the Lions are more than likely not going to have that big high draft pick. They’ll be in the mid to low 20’s if not the 30’s. Are you going to miss that pick a lot if it’s swapped for a big time contributor?
I don’t think so and I don’t think the Lions think so either. This is a business and this business is a lot more about wins than it is about making a draft pick in front of your fans.
So with that said, I don’t think the Lions, as a team, really care about making that pick in front of you. I think they care about hoisting a trophy in front of you. Therefore that pick is totally on the table.