Allen Park — With a 1-6 record, the Detroit Lions have opted to be sellers at the trade deadline, shipping tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings in a deal that includes four draft picks, with the Lions getting back a pair of Day 2 selections.
The Lions announced Tuesday afternoon they are sending Hockenson to the Vikings, along with a fourth-round pick in 2023 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2024, in exchange for the Vikings’ second-round pick in 2023 and a third-rounder in 2024.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the 2024 fourth-round pick from the Lions will convert to a fifth-round pick if the Vikings win a playoff game.
In addition to the draft equity, the Lions clear significant cap space off the books for next season. Hockenson is owed $9.39 million in 2023, after the team exercised the fifth-year option of his rookie contract this offseason.
Drafted No. 8 overall by the Lions in 2019, Hockenson earned Pro Bowl honors for the Lions in his second season, catching 67 passes for 723 yards and six touchdowns. But in his other two seasons, he was limited by injury. He finished his rookie campaign on injured reserve, after suffering a broken ankle and he missed the final five games of the 2021 season with a fractured thumb.
This year, Hockenson had struggled to carve out a regular role in Detroit’s passing attack, despite posting a career-best 179 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s Week 4 loss to Seattle. In the team’s remaining six games, he’s failed to catch more than four passes, while topping 50 yards only one other time, in last Sunday’s game against Miami.
Prior to the breakout performance against Seattle, Hockenson talked at length about wanting to be more involved in the offense.
“I want to help and I know what I can do,” Hockenson said. “Everyone in this locker room knows what I can do. And so to have guys behind me that are wondering what’s happening be like, ‘Hey, all good,’ that kind of thing means a lot to me. And it just really shows your teammates have your back, and that’s kind of what you look for as a team. That’s a winning team.”
Hockenson will get a chance to play for a winning team in Minnesota, something he never experienced in four years with Detroit. The Vikings are currently 6-1 and in first place in the NFC North division. And the team is in need of immediate help at tight end, after recently losing Irv Smith Jr. to an ankle injury.
Following Hockenson’s departure, second-year tight end Brock Wright and rookie James Mitchell figure to be more prominently involved in the Lions’ offense.
After filling in for Hockenson down the stretch last season, Wright has logged 181 offensive snaps this year, catching six passes for 88 yards. Mitchell, meanwhile, has been slowly incorporated into the lineup after tearing his ACL last season. He’s yet to play more than six snaps in a game this season and recorded his first reception, a 15-yarder, against the Dolphins on Sunday.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers