Right now the thing that seems to be on the minds of all Detroit Lions fans is Myles Garrett and the possibility that the Lions could trade for him. Some fans want it really bad and others don’t.
For us, we think it would be a Super Bowl-winning move for the Lions, but there is the understanding that it’s a move that could alter the Lions’ future and make things a little harder when it comes to bringing back everyone they want to bring back.
Could there be a cheaper alternative that could help the Lions have a big impact on the edge, but not be something that costs multiple first-round picks? There just might be. We did some looking around and found three possible moves.
Kwity Paye
Paye is not Garrett. He’s not going to be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but he is a guy that can get you 35 pressures and eight sacks a season. That’s not bad at all when you pair that up with Za’Darius Smith on the other side of Aidan Hutchinson. You can rotate those guys in and out.
Here’s a trade proposal for the Colts:
Lions get: Kwity Paye
Colts get: 2025 third-round pick
Here’s why the Colts might do it. They picked up his fifth-year option last March, and now it’s time to negotiate an extension. The Colts don’t have the best cap situation at the moment, and a new deal for Paye would make things harder for them when they’re trying to find their quarterback and much more. An extra pick and saved money would be great for them.
Boye Mafe
A pretty similar situation to Paye. The bill is about to come due on Mafe and the Seahawks have one of the worst cap situations in the league right now. Things get better for them in 2026 and they could either sign Mafe to an extension this offseason or have one of the best cap situations in the league in 2026 and do whatever they want.
Mafe is good, but he didn’t take the giant step forward that Seahawks fans maybe thought he would in 2024. 47 pressures and six sacks aren’t bad, but they may feel Leonard Williams and Derrick Hall are the better way for them to go. Here’s the proposal:
Lions get: Boye Mafe
Seahawks get: 2025 fourth-round pick and 2025 sixth-round pick
Trey Hendrickson
I know this is one that Lions fans have considered before. There was some hope that this was an option during the trade deadline. Hendrickson had a big 18-sack season this year, and it seems crazy that the Bengals could trade him. However, he is 30 years old, and the Bengals really want to keep both JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins. They need space to do it.
Lions get: Trey Hendrickson
Bengals get: 2025 third-round and 2025 fourth-round picks
Bengals fans might want a second-round pick for Hendrickson, but a the end of the day, he is 30 and the Lions would be the team taking on the older player and they’d be the team that has to sign this older player to the extension probably right after the trade. So the third and the fourth make a little bit more sense.