The Lions trading for Micah Parsons feels like a move that Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn would have made
There are a lot of upset Detroit Lions fans right now. They’re upset because there’s a perception that every team in the NFC North got better this offseason, and their team did not. It all ties back to an edge rusher. It’s become an obsession around here. It’s the only thing a good deal of […]
There are a lot of upset Detroit Lions fans right now. They’re upset because there’s a perception that every team in the NFC North got better this offseason, and their team did not. It all ties back to an edge rusher. It’s become an obsession around here. It’s the only thing a good deal of Lions fans want, and in their minds, it’s the only thing that will win their team a Super Bowl. Nothing else will do.
Part of it is the way the Lions’ season ended last year. They went 15-2 and got bounced in the divisional round because their defense couldn’t stop the Commanders. Everyone and their mother is super quick to ignore just how injury-riddled this team was at that time. I know online football fans will tell you that injuries are a normal part of the game and that every team has them, but no, not every team has almost all their star defensive players get hurt at the same time. It’s not normal, and it doesn’t happen every season.
The Lions’ defense was better than you remember last season
On top of that, those same fans watched the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense run roughshod all over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl and completely ignored that just happened to be the Eagles’ defensive line’s best performance of the season, and that they weren’t all that much better than the Lions during the 2024 season. The Lions had 179 pressures and 37 sacks, and the Eagles had 111 pressures and 41 sacks. That stopped nobody from saying, “Well, the Eagles went out and did everything they needed to do on the defensive line. Why can’t the Lions?”
It also made everyone, and I mean everyone, ignore that the Lions’ defense was one of the best defenses in the league. I don’t mean that in the sense that I like this team and I’m fanboying and telling everyone they’re one of the best. They were legitimately one of the best.
In Week 12, six weeks after the loss of Aidan Hutchinson, this defense was ranked second in defensive DVOA. Don’t let anyone suddenly tell you DVOA doesn’t matter. It’s one of the most respected analytical measurements in the game. Anyone who tells you it doesn’t matter just wants to be right about their incorrect point.
The bottom line is that this defense was great and remains so. It’s actually better than it was last year. Detroit upgraded and got deeper in the secondary. It has one of the best linebacker corps in the NFL, if not the best; it’s deeper in the interior of its defensive line than it has probably ever been, and the guy who was expected to be the Defensive Player of the Year is back and healthy. Nobody wants to hear this last point, but Marcus Davenport looks like a Pro Bowler out there. Yes, I’m aware of his past with injuries.
That all brings us to Thursday’s big trade with Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers. Some Lions fans got mad because the Lions didn’t make that trade. It had me wondering how to best explain how badly that would have worked for the Lions, and the only thing that came to mind is that Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn probably would have made this deal.
I once compared Patricia to Thanos because he came in and snapped his fingers, and half of everything you loved about the Lions was gone. Well, Parsons would have been the final infinity stone in Patrica’s gauntlet. It would have seemed really cool at first, but then you would have seen that acquiring star players with big names doesn’t guarantee a Super Bowl win, and their contracts are usually the iceberg that causes the Titanic to sink. You would have loved it at first, but then you’d be out in the cold water while Patricia is lying on that door, promising he’ll never let go before he actually does.
The point is that it’s a bad move for a team trying to build for sustained success and keep all of the pillars holding the roof up and helping to build that sustained success. It’s so bad that it would only make sense that a world eater would do the deal.
Parsons on this Lions team is a Madden dream come true, provided that you can turn off the salary cap in real life, too. But it’s not something the Lions could have actually done, and it’s not something you would have wanted them to do. Because the other side of it is maybe a Super Bowl, and then definitely losing players you love en route to having to go back down and start this thing all over again, and hope you get as lucky.
Everyone wants this Lions team to win a Super Bowl, but there is no cheat code to this thing, no matter how many teams you see try to apply one. It’s a combination of having the right players along with having the right culture and attitude all year long. Then, you have to be lucky and have things bounce your way.
There are so many Hall of Fame-caliber players who don’t have a Super Bowl ring, even though they were traded to or signed with teams that were supposed to be ready to win it all. In the end, things didn’t bounce right, or maybe there were too many big egos in the building. It’s not an easy fix. If it were, literally every team would be trying to trade for big-name players every summer.
The Lions are in good hands. Could they use some edge depth? Yeah, that would have been a good thing to add. But they did not need to give up they’re entire plan and all their ideals for one player.
