Dan Campbell just crushed your dreams if you’re hoping the Lions were going to make a huge trade soon
Detroit still has cap work to do, but Campbell’s comments about his secondary and two recent cornerback developments make a pre-Week 1 blockbuster difficult to buy.
A tweet from a Detroit Lions fan earlier this week kicked the rumor mill into overdrive. He said, and I quote: something is brewing for the Detroit Lions trade front or signing. Not sure how big, but things heated up over the weekend. Detroit has to get under the cap still, still has still have 2 roster spots open. Bradley could be looking to sure up this secondary in a big way.
I think there’s a mixture of things going on here. The first is the Terrion Arnold situation. After the Lions cut him, the thought process for a lot of Lions fans has been that Detroit has to replace him. They need somebody who’s starting caliber, and the only way to do that is to trade for someone with a big name. Fans have been looking all over the place. Could the Lions trade for Christian Gonzalez if the Patriots don’t want to pay him? That’s crazy, because of course New England wanted to pay him. They just did. And now the Joey Porter Jr. situation in Pittsburgh has everybody thinking he could be traded. Personally, I think he’s posturing for a bigger deal. I don’t think Porter is going anywhere.
The Lions just need to get cap compliant
What Lions fans have to realize are two things. The first is that Detroit just needs to be cap compliant. Before that Week 1 game against the New Orleans Saints kicks off, the Lions have to get under the cap. They’re going to make some sort of restructure. I don’t know who it’s going to be, but it’s going to open up a decent amount of money. Brad Holmes usually likes to have about $10 million to $15 million during the season to work with.
I know the moment that restructure happens, the moment someone hits send on that tweet, there will be multiple Lions fans out there posting something to the effect of, “Oh my God, Joey Porter is about to get traded here.” And there will be even crazier fans throwing out “Maxx Crosby?” with the eyes emojis.
I just saw it happen with Bears fans last week. Chicago just needed to get under the cap, and their fans tricked themselves into believing the Bears were about to trade for a player the Raiders told you a million times they weren’t going to trade. The Lions are not going to make a huge trade right now. It’s not happening.
Dan Campbell feels good about the secondary, and he should
If there was anything that could crush your dreams more than what I just said, it’s Lions coach Dan Campbell on 97.1 The Ticket Wednesday morning, and this is what he had to say:
“This is the best position we’ve been in, in the secondary, without those two guys in a long time. (Avonte) Maddox and Chuck (Clark) are very reliable, dependable, smart. Football players, uh, highly competitive. Rock (Ya-Sin) and (D.J.) Reed, man, are highly competitive, man. Get the job done. Uh, they’re gonna compete, they’re gonna battle. Nothing’s too big for them. Uh, we got (Roger) McCreary, we got (Keith) Abney, we got Rake (Ennis Rakestraw) . Listen,I like where we’re at. Um, and you can go anywhere you want across the roster, different spots, different positions, and it’s okay. Does it— what does this guy do well? What does he not do well? Oh, this It’s about a team, man. And does everybody have a role to play, and can they be good in that role? And that answer is yes. So I feel good, I feel really good with where we’re at going into week 1.”
To reiterate what Campbell just said, he feels good about the secondary. And you know what, I don’t think he has a reason not to. Rock Ya-Sin was addition by subtraction. Arnold left and the Lions got better at cornerback because Ya-Sin is a better cornerback than Arnold. He’s starting caliber. He looked tremendously good this summer and really good last year as a starter for Detroit. DJ Reed is looking solid, though his stretches run up and down. That’s your one concern. Roger McCreary can play outside and inside and has looked up and down as well, but when he’s been up, he’s been pretty up. Keith Abney carries a lot of upside. And then you have Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox. Those are two pretty good starters, and you really only have to start them for four weeks, maybe five.
Campbell talked on Tuesday about safety Kerby Joseph being in the building. The Lions are ramping him up. He can practice in two weeks. Brian Branch can practice in two weeks. Both could be back after the bye week, probably after rather than before. But right now, Detroit has two guys in Clark and Maddox who are capable starters. Clark started for the Ravens for almost a decade. Maddox started for the Eagles and won a Super Bowl as a starter in Philadelphia.
The trade deadline is the real window
The Lions are not making a huge secondary trade before the season. Your dreams are crushed right now if you’re thinking Detroit is going to pull off some mega deal under the wire like the Packers did last year with Micah Parsons. It ain’t happening.
But if you want to talk about November and the trade deadline, I’ll entertain you. I would go so far as to say this is the year that makes the most sense for the Lions to make a big trade at the deadline, assuming someone is actually available. It takes two to tango. Detroit may want to make a trade, but that doesn’t mean the other team has something they’re willing to give away. We’ll see where it goes.
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