The Lions should consider a trade for a first-round edge rusher they once had a ton of interest in, and what it would cost to do it
Back in 2024, the Lions had multiple meetings with the Missouri edge rusher, but ultimately weren’t able to draft him. Now it’s worth taking a look at him on the trade market
Let’s go back in time just a little bit to before the 2024 NFL Draft. The Detroit Lions met with a lot of players ahead of that draft, but one of the guys they met with the most, they weren’t able to get. Now it’s worth thinking about a trade for him.
The Lions should consider trading for Cardinals edge rusher Darius Robinson
The Lions had a formal meeting with Robinson at the NFL Combine, they talked with him at the Senior Bowl, they had him in for a local visit, and they went to his pro day and talked to him there. The Lions were interested and so was he.
Ultimatley the Lions, who had the 28th pick, moved up to 24th to get Terrion Arnold, and Robinson was taken by the Arizona Cardinals two picks later. Things have not gone well for him so far. Let’s just be honest about that.
Robinson missed most of his rookie season with a calf injury he suffered during training camp, and only got to play the final six games of the year. In 2025, he did get to play in Jonathan Gannon’s scheme, where nobody is really the starter, and they do a bunch of different defensive fronts.
The scheme just did not fit what Robinson was good at in Missouri. They asked him to stand up a lot when he’s much better on the line, setting the edge against the run or kicking inside on passing downs. That’s exactly what the Lions would want to use him for.
He’s similar to Marcus Davenport in the sense that this is the type of player the Lions are looking for. A big, long edge capable of setting the run and getting inside tackles. Plus, the Lions can move him inside and have him play some defensive tackle on some snaps.
This was the thing that got Robinson drafted in the first round. He was on the best run-stopping edges in the country in 2024 and had that pass-rush juice as well. The Cardinals just didn’t use him that way. Detroit would.
So what would this move cost the Lions, and why would the Cardinals move on after just two seasons? Let’s answer the second question first. The Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and they’re expected to take one of the top two edge rushers in the class. Either David Bailey or Ruben Bain Jr. They’ll have Josh Sweat, Baron Browning, and Zaven Collins ot go along with that rookie.
Because he’s expendable at the moment and it didn’t work out, the Lions could probably get him for a steal and make the still just 24-year-old their prime reclamation project. Something they’ve been very good at outside of Davenport. See Al-Quadin Muhammad as an example. Here’s the proposal:
Lions get: Darius Robinson
Cardinals get: 181st pick (fifth-round) in the 2026 NFL Draft
That is more than doable for a pick that we’ve been mocking a young developmental edge rusher for most of the time anyway. In this case, they get a guy they once felt pretty good about who fits what they want to do.
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