At a certain point in time, you realize that a lot of the articles you’re writing in June are just you fighting with Detroit Lions fans. This is kind of another version of that.

If there’s one thing I don’t think all Lions fans truly grasp is that the Lions are building their team the exact same way as the teams they keep saying they want their team to be like. Today, I’m going to prove that to you with the teams that have been winning the Super Bowls the last few years.

Lions vs Eagles

Let’s start here. The Eagles have been primarily a build-through-the-draft team. Especially on defense, where their Super Bowl-winning teams from two years ago had 12 draft picks from 2021-2024 on their roster.

Everyone always thinks they make a bunch of huge trades, but aside from the A.J. Brown trade, they’ve had a lot of misses that maybe looked bigger in the moment.

Player	Outcome
Josiah Scott	Depth CB
Gardner Minshew	Backup QB
Kary Vincent Jr.	Depth/limited role
Robert Quinn	EDGE rental (2022)
C.J. Gardner-Johnson	High-impact starter (2022, brief return later)
Ugo Amadi	Short stint DB
A.J. Brown	Elite WR1, franchise cornerstone
D’Andre Swift	Starting RB (1 season)
Albert Okwuegbunam	Depth TE
Kevin Byard	Midseason safety rental
Haason Reddick	High-impact EDGE starter
Jahan Dotson	Rotational WR / depth piece
Sam Howell	QB depth / developmental role
Fred Johnson	OL depth / swing tackle
Darian Kinnard	OL depth piece
Jaelan Phillips	Two sacks for the Eagles. Left for the Panthers in free agency this offseason
Jaire Alexander	Retired a week later

Not exactly the huge moves you think they’re making. Aside from the Saquon Barkley deal, the Eagles aren’t spending a ton of money in free agency either. From 2023 to 2025, the Lions were 22nd in the NFL in free agency spending. The Eagles were 20th. For both teams, the majority of that spending was on extending their draft picks.

This offseason, the Lions were 27th in free agent spending, and the Eagles were 28th.

Lions vs Seahawks

The Seahawks are very much the same way. 11 of their starters on this year’s Super Bowl-winning team were drafted by them. That’s just the starters. They had plenty of depth pieces, too. There’s a lot of belief that they just went out there and traded for a bunch of stars. Well, they didn’t.

Player	Outcome
Gabe Jackson	Starter RG (2021–2022)
Ahkello Witherspoon	Starting CB (2021), then departed
Sidney Jones IV	Depth CB (short stint)
Carlos Dunlap	Starter EDGE, solid production (2021)
Jamal Adams	Pro Bowl-level safety early, injuries/decline later
Quandre Diggs	(note: re-signed, not traded in this window)
Shelby Harris	Rotational DL, solid 2022 season
Noah Fant	Starting TE, mid production (2022–present range in this window)
Drew Lock	Backup QB (2022–2023)
Kevin Lane / depth fringe moves	minimal/no lasting roster impact
Leonard Williams	High-end DL starter (major 2023 deadline acquisition)
Frank Clark	Brief return stint, limited impact (2023)

In terms of spending, the Seahawks have spent more than the Lions in free agency through the years. They were 10th in spending from 2023 to 2025, but there is nuance there. They signed Sam Darnold to a very large contract, and they also signed Leonard Williams to a huge extension. The numbers are inflated by these moves.

This year, the Seahawks are 15th, but they also made Jaxson Smith-Njigba the highest-paid receiver in NFL history, and also extended Rashid Shaheed. They signed six new free agents. All of them to one year deals, with Dante Fowler’s $2.5 million deal being the big spend.

Lions vs Chiefs

Guess what, it’s the same for the Chiefs, too. The majority of their team and their stars, like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones, were all drafted by them and all extended by them. But let’s look at the trades for fun.

Player	Outcome
Orlando Brown Jr.	Starting LT, Pro Bowl-level early impact
Mike Hughes	Depth CB / rotational starter
Melvin Ingram	Midseason pass-rush rental
Kadarius Toney	Inconsistent WR/returner with occasional explosive plays
DeAndre Hopkins	Veteran WR rental, short-term impact
Josh Uche	EDGE/LB rotational depth
Cameron Thomas	EDGE depth piece
Peyton Hendershot	TE depth / blocking role
Lonnie Johnson Jr.	Depth DB, short stint

Nothing big at all. Maybe the DeAndre Hopkins trade, since that’s a well-known name. He was 32 when the trade happened, and he played 10 games there.

Why hasn’t it worked for the Lions?

You’re going to hate to hear it, but it’s as simple as pie. The Lions keep getting hurt, and these teams don’t. Let’s take a look at using FTN adjusted games lost to injury ranking. The lower the ranking, the worse, by the way.

Lions 2025: 31st
Seahawks 2025: 3rd

Lions 2024: 25th
Eagles 2024: 2nd

Lions 2023: 18th
Chiefs 2023: 6th

The Lions aren’t just dealing with injuries; they’re dealing with mass extinctions. “Next man up” is a cool thing to say, and so is “injuries are a part of the game,” But usually when people say that, they’re talking about losing a cornerback and not your entire starting secondary in one season.

This is really it. It’s the only thing separating the Lions from these teams. They’re drafting the same, if not better than, all of them. They’re spending money the same way. They’re largely trading the same way, with the exception of the big trade the Eagles made with Brown. They’re extending the same way. They’re winning the same way until it all falls apart. All the Lions need more than anything is to just keep their guys on the field for an entire season and the playoffs.