The Lions should trade for Josh Jones
If we've learned one thing from the Detroit Lions during the preseason, it's that they need some help with their offensive line depth. Both Teddy Bridgewater and Nate Sudfeld have been running for their lives this month becasue the team has been unable to block. The Lions allowed 14 pressures on Saturday and 10 of […]
If we've learned one thing from the Detroit Lions during the preseason, it's that they need some help with their offensive line depth. Both Teddy Bridgewater and Nate Sudfeld have been running for their lives this month becasue the team has been unable to block. The Lions allowed 14 pressures on Saturday and 10 of them were due to the Lions backup offensive line. There might be an answer out there for the Lions.
Josh Jones was a third round pick in 2020 NFL Draft. He's started 21 games for the Cardinals in his three year career. There might not be a place for him in Arizona anymore after the Cardinals traded up with the Lions in the 2023 NFL draft so they could pick Parris Johnson. Now the Lions have a chance top wrap back around on that trade and benefit some more from it.
Right now the Lions are slated to go into the season with Matt Nelson and Germain Ifedi as their backup tackles. Both guys have been very inconsistent during the preseason. Jones, on the other hand, has been pretty decent. He's played 96 total snaps and has graded out at 74 on Pro Football Focus.
Still, he's slated to be the teams third tackle behind D.J. Humphries and Paris Johnson. The team also has veteran Kelvin Beachum on their roster. He started 17 games for the Cardinals last year. Jones should be available.
What could it cost the Lions though? There's two pretty recent tackle trades to go off of here. First there's the Dennis Daley trade. The Titans sent a fifth round pick over to the Panthers for Daley and a 2024 seventh round pick.
Then there's the Justin Herron trade. The Raiders sent the Patriots a sixth round pick for Herron and a 2024 seventh round pick.
The answer is somewhere in there. It's more than likely going to be a day three pick and due to the fact that Jones was selected three rounds higher than both of those guys, the Cardinals might want a little more of a return on their investment. So a fifth round pick might be the offer.
That shouldn't be too high of a price for the Lions though. The Lions have an extra third next year that can make up for the loss of a fifth round pick. Knowing that Brad Holmes loves to move around, the Lions probably weren't going to keep this pick anyways.
The good thing is that it's for a year. If it doesn't work out, the Lions can move on after the season. If it does, they can work out a deal to keep him. This could be the answer to the Lions problem.
Featured image by Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
