The Lions trading David Montgomery is more on the table than ever after Brad Holmes’ comments
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened
One of the things that every Detroit Lions fan talked about a lot this year was David Montgomery and the fact that he just wasn’t getting a lot of carries or time on the field. Frankly, I’ve thought a lot of this was blown out of proportion, and I’ve written that multiple times. I even wrote earlier this week that I didn’t think he was going anywhere. After hearing Brad Holmes talk on Thursday, my stance on this has changed.
The Lions’ trading David Montgomery seems fully on the table now
“Those are discussions that we’re gonna have to have a lot more in-depth in terms of what is the best plan for him going forward? You know, is it? Is it somewhere else? or whatever the case may be. But just really appreciate everything that he has done for us.” Holmes said. “If it does end up going that way, I hope it doesn’t, because we love David Montgomery. He’s a good football player, and I wish we would have been able to get more utilization from him. I know Dan (Campbell) feels the same way. But, you know, those are conversations that we’re going to have to have, because we’ve got a lot of respect for that player. He deserves to be in a situation where his skill set can be utilized. We’ll love it for it to be here, but if it can’t be here, you know, then you have to just see what you can work out the best for him.”
Yeah, that is as far away from a definitive “he’s staying” statement as you can get without straight up saying “he’s gone.” As Holmes said multiple times, that doesn’t mean he’s not coming back. But if you’re reading the tea leaves, it’s hard ot come away from it without thinking things broke down between the Lions and Montgomery, and the Lions now see that trading him away might be their best move.
Now, the next question is what the Lions can get for Montgomery and what kind of cap savings are there? It’s really not a lot. The savings would be about $3.5 million. They would actually owe a little more than that in dead cap.
In terms of what they can get trade-wise, you’re almost assuredly looking at something like a fifth-round pick. That was what the Vikings got, Jordan Mason, and he’s a very similar player. He’s also a few years younger. I know when it comes to beloved players, fans might think they can get a lot more, but that is just not always the case.
We’ll see what happens soon enough, but don’t rule out the Lions either moving forward with Sione Vaki or looking for a running back in the draft or even free agency. The times, they are a-changing.
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