The Lions tried to trade up to 13 in the 2026 NFL Draft, who they were likely trying to get
The Lions tried to trade up with the Rams to get to the 13th pick, and we have two ideas on who they wanted
Now that the 2026 NFL Draft is in the books, this is where you start to hear all the rumblings of the things the Detroit Lions were attempting to do during the draft. On Wednesday, we learned a big one.
The Lions tried to trade up to 13 with the Rams
The trade offers that came the Rams’ way at No. 13 were “soft,” a team source told The Athletic. The Dallas Cowboys traded up to take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. The Detroit Lions had interest in moving up, a team source said, but the return didn’t excite in a draft that thinned out considerably by Day 3 due to so many college players returning for name, image and likeness compensation.
Nate Adkins
The Athletic
We know that from a national point of view, multiple NFL Insiders, including ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, reported that teams around the league were viewing the Lions as a trade-up threat.
But who was this for? That’s the big question. Well, we have two ideas. The first one is Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. In the hours before the first round began, we heard multiple times that the Lions were working the phones, looking to move up to get Bain.
Bain made a lot of sense for the Lions, and there was the expectation that he was going to fall out of the top 10. Which he did. There was also the expectation that he would never make it past Tampa Bay. Which he didn’t.
Trading up with the Rams might have been the last-ditch effort. Although Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said he had an agreement with an NFC team to trade down and that the team called and had changed their minds. No word on who that team was though.
The other thing is that the Lions might have actually been trying to trade up to just get the guy they wound up getting. Lions GM Brad Holmes said after the first round that the Lions strongly considered trading up to get Miller and that after the Rams picked Ty Simpson, they felt comfortable that Miller would make it to them at 17.
“We talked to teams up—way up—and we just talked about (it) and tried to see if we can be at peace with what the capital is that you’d have to expend. But we definitely explored strongly about trading up.” Holmes said. “Right after LA took the quarterback, I felt pretty good that we might be able to just get Blake.”
At the end of the day, the Lions got their guy at tackle in Miller, and then they got their edge rusher in the second round in Derrick Moore. So it all worked out.
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