The 2025 NFL Draft is less than a month away and we've spent an unhealthy amount of time thinking about what this team is going to do when night one of the draft goes down. 

The early thought was that it made a ton of sense that the Lions won't pick at 28, but the belief was that they wouldn't pick there because they would trade down. Brad Holmes teased that so many times last year. The ability to make extra picks is an important one. 

But then again, the Lions are kind of running out of space on the roster right now. They currently have 72 players under contract, and that gives them 18 more spots to fill. For a team that has signed 30 combined undrafted rookies in the last two years, they're going to have to sign a lot less this year, regardless, but does that mean they want to sign like eight because they have so many draft picks? 

Obviously the Lions are going to value draft picks over UDFA's, but with the way the roster is built, doesn't it seem like it would make more sense to go all in and trade up? Trading down feels like development, while trading up feels like getting the guy who's ready to go. 

The Lions are arguably a player or two away from being where they want to be. They were never going to spend a ton of money on that player or make a big trade for that player because they want the assets for the draft and they want the money to retain players. 

So their best bet to go get that big time player would be to trade up for them in the draft and get them on a rookie deal. The Lions could get a decent player at 28, but they could get a great player if they moved up to the teens, and they could get an even better player if they moved into the top 10. 

This isn't anything we haven't seen the Lions do before. They traded from 32 to 12 in 2022 and traded from 29 to 24 last year. They'll go get their guy if they want him bad enough. 

What would it take to move up to the top 10? For reference, we looked at the closest trade scenario we could find. In 2017, the Chiefs moved up to the 10th pick to get Patrick Mahomes. Here's what that deal looked like:

Cheifs got: 10th pick
Bills got: 27th pick, 91st pick, and a 2018 first-round pick

So that's two firsts and a third to move up to the top 10. If the Lions saw an opportunity to get Penn State's Abdul Carter, Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart, or Tennessee's James Pearce, maybe they would make that move to get their edge of the future. 

If it's a similar deal that's the 28th pick, the 102nd pick, and a first-round pick, you believe will be the 32nd pick next year. That's a worthwhile move if you ask me. If I'm in Holmes, seat, I'm calling the Patriots to see what they want for the fourth pick. I'd be calling the Jets, Panthers, and Saints too. 

We'll see what the Lions do in April, but right now it's feeling like a trade up more than it's feeling like a trade down. 

Something the Lions loved about Mekhi Wingo might explain their meeting with another LSU player

The Detroit Lions are about a few things above anything else. They love their players to have grit and leadership. They love going after team captains and guys that they know are going to fit their culture. That's why it wasn't a surprise when the Lions drafted Mekhi Wingo out of LSU in 2024.  Wingo […]