Pardon us, if we’ve seen this before.
Another trade, another Detroit Lions GM bringing in a player from the organization from which he came.
We know how things went last time. So let’s see how Brad Holmes’ deals work out.
Holmes has finalized his second trade with the Los Angeles Rams in two months, this one to acquire defensive lineman Michael Brockers.
NFL Network first reported the deal could be in the works late Tuesday night.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports the Lions are sending the Rams a 2023 seventh-round pick in exchange for Brockers, who declined a significant pay cut and with the Rams in need of both salary cap and cash spending relief.
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Last season, Brockers had 51 tackles (21 solo), five sacks and five tackles for loss in 15 games (all starts). He has had at least 50 tackles in each of the last four seasons.
Brockers is due to make $8 million this fall in salary and roster bonuses as part of a three-year, $24 million deal he signed before the 2020 season.
The 30-year-old Brockers was a first-round pick out of LSU by the Rams in 2012, the first year Les Snead was the team’s general manager. At the time, Holmes was a national scout for the Rams.
The following season, Holmes was the team’s director of college scouting, the position he held until the Lions hired him earlier this year.
News of the trade came in the early morning hours of the first day of the 2021 league year, when the Matthew Stafford trade to the Rams for Jared Goff and three draft picks can become official.
Brockers reportedly said to TMZ that Stafford “is a level up” over Goff. But it now appears Goff is his quarterback yet again.
“You’re getting a tough player, mentally tough player that doesn’t let a lot of things get to him,” Brockers said of Goff on “Good Morning Football” earlier this month. “And he has a lot of experience. You can’t take that away from him. The man has made it to the big game and played in big games. He knows how to get it done when the time is needed, so the Lions should be very happy with what they have.”
In Detroit, Brockers joins a defensive line that includes edge rushers Trey Flowers and Romeo Okwara, who agreed to a new three-year deal with the Lions earlier this week, but is light on interior talent.
The Lions released defensive tackle Danny Shelton with a failed physical designation early Tuesday.
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.