The Lions have been linked to a player they potentially tried to trade up for in the 2025 NFL Draft
ESPN listed Detroit as a potential fit for a 22-year-old former first-round pick, and the Lions’ history with him makes the connection a lot more interesting than it first appears.
On Wednesday, ESPN published a list of 25 players who could be moved at the trade deadline, and the Detroit Lions were listed as a fit for four of them. A few of them were obvious. Eagles cornerback Riq Woolen is a name we’ve talked about at length. Chargers cornerback Donte Jackson has come up a bunch, too. ESPN also recommended guard Cesar Ruiz, which I don’t get at all. The Lions have very good interior offensive line play right now.
The most intriguing name was Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Shemar Stewart.
Someone asked me about Stewart earlier Wednesday morning, and my first thought was that it’s not really a need. Detroit has D.J. Wonnum, and he’s playing fine. Then there’s Derrick Moore, who is coming along slower than Lions fans would like to admit. If you trade for an edge rusher, does that mess with Moore’s development?
The more I think about it, though, the more it starts to click. I think the Lions really wanted Stewart before the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Lions’ history with Shemar Stewart
Look at the predraft process. Detroit brought Stewart in for a pre-draft visit. The Lions had a formal meeting with him at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. They also went out to Texas A&M for his pro day. That’s a lot of interest in one player.
That took me back to an article I wrote on April 28, 2025. The whole thing was about my hunch that the Lions tried to trade up for Stewart.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes admitted after the draft that Detroit had tried to trade up for an edge rusher but couldn’t find a partner. He never said who it was for. What we did know is that Stewart was the only projected first-round edge rusher the Lions met with on a pre-draft visit. He also went in the range where Detroit could have realistically attempted to move up.
So a lot of things pointed to the idea that the Lions wanted Stewart, tried to go get him, came up short, and wound up with Tyleik Williams, who may have been the next guy on their board. That worked out great. Williams is playing really well.
I still think Detroit wants Stewart, and now there’s an opportunity.
Why the Bengals might move him
There’s been a lot of talk about Cincinnati potentially trading Stewart. ESPN thinks the Lions would be one of the best fits, and I think they’re right, partially because of how badly Detroit wanted him a year ago.
How has he played this season? Not a whole lot. Stewart has barely been on the field for the Bengals and has appeared in just a handful of games. A big part of that is what happened during the summer.
Stewart hyperextended his knee on the second snap of training camp and missed essentially the entire summer. He didn’t get back into padded practice until early September, and that put him behind while other players in Cincinnati’s defensive line room were getting those reps and moving ahead of him.
His rookie season was disrupted by injuries, and he finished the year with just 11 tackles and one sack in eight games. This year, the summer injury slowed down his progression before the season even really started.
The big draw here is that he’s still just 22 years old. He has the physical tools that made him a first-round pick, and he’s still a developmental player with a ton of upside.
Why the Bengals might not do this
Here’s the other side of it. I don’t know that Cincinnati is actually ready to give up on Stewart, and Zac Taylor’s comments this week make that pretty clear. The Bengals seem to view this more as a guy who lost valuable time and got caught in a numbers game than a player they’re trying to get rid of.
“He’s doing all the right things. He’s getting better every week. (He missed) training camp for the most part. So, to get him back, I think he’s been doing a great job of practicing. We’re just in a really tough spot with our inactives right now. Sometimes we’re really healthy. Sometimes we’re beat up at a position where we need another guy up. So, unfortunately, we just had to pull from the d-line, and it’s a really deep d-line group, and it’s really difficult to choose who’s going to be inactive there,” Taylor said.
That’s the part that makes me pump the brakes a little bit. Stewart’s leg injury cost him most of the summer and slowed down whatever progression Cincinnati hoped to see in Year 2. If the Bengals still think he’s catching up and getting better every week, why would they sell low on a 22-year-old first-round pick now? That’s probably the biggest reason this trade never happens.
What would it cost?
Our trade simulator says a third-round pick should get it done. Stewart is worth 458 points, and Detroit’s third-round pick is worth 431.
Is it the right move for the Lions? I go back and forth. Aidan Hutchinson is great, and you don’t even need to bring him into this conversation. Wonnum is playing well. You still want to develop Moore, even if he hasn’t played much and that makes some Lions fans uncomfortable. How much would Stewart even play?
On the other hand, he’s 22, there’s a lot of room to grow, and Detroit would be a better spot for him than Cincinnati. The interest was clearly there before. It’s something to think about.
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