Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is refreshingly easy to figure out. He tells it like it is, and regularly gives thorough answers (within reason of course) when reporters ask him questions. So when says basically the same thing on a topic in quick succession, you know it's a thing.
In the span of roughly 40 hours, Monday night and again on Wednesday morning, Campbell talked about the Lions' wide receiver depth and how someone needs to step up. A lingering concern far and wide all offseason regarding the Lions' wide receiver depth has come to roost now, with naturally fewer good options to address it.
There should be some suitable options on the trade market, and failing that there will be options as other teams make roster cuts. It's hard to see the Lions making a particularly big move at this point though. As Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports pointed out, a big move now would prove their overconfidence about their current wide receiver group to be as flimsy as it has always looked for some people.
But on the other hand, a season with legitimate eyes on going to (or even winning) the Super Bowl means there should be no half-measures to address roster weaknesses. After the top three on the depth chart, the Lions have one at wide receiver that isn't being addressed or fulfilled internally.
The likelihood of any "bolder" options to address the Lions' wide receiver concern can dismissed, debated, etc., on the idea of how much Brad Holmes holds draft capital sacred. But let's take a spin through some, if only highly hypothetically.
5 bold trade targets for the Detroit Lions to address their WR concern
5. Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
Aiyuk only gets a spot here because other analysts just can't let go of the idea of him to the Lions. The latest is Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report, on a premise of seven other teams (besides the Steelers) who still make sense for him.
Trading for Aiyuk goes against all kinds of logic from the Lions' end, not the least of which is a report from back in May that he wants to be paid as much or more than Amon-Ra St. Brown in a new contract. To say nothing of any hesitancy the 49ers would have to trade him to the team that had them on the ropes for a half in last year's NFC Championship Game.
If things go a very specific (and unlikely?) way for Aiyuk; staying with the 49ers this year but still without a long-term contract, a deal for him at the trade deadline might make sense for the Lions if the price was right (and if they still have a need). But even that is a big reach.
On the notion toward a move at the trade deadline, let's take a look at some notable options who may not be a lot longer for their current teams.
4. Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns
The Browns were involved in the trade talks involving Aiyuk, apparently willing to part with Cooper in a deal if it could've gotten done (i.e., they would given Aiyuk the contract he wants).
The team adjusted Cooper's contract to move more money into this year, but he is not under contract for 2025. So here he sits as a possible trade candidate, still now before the season or closer to the trade deadline if the Browns are willing to part with him then.
By letting the report come out that they were willing to trade him for Aiyuk, general manager Andrew Berry has made it known Cooper is available until shown otherwise.
Cooper has topped 1,100 yards in four of the last five seasons. It's fair to wonder if he'd be unhappy in a role where he wouldn't be leading his team in targets. But he's also played in just five playoff games over nine seasons so far, so if he were traded it's also fair to assume he wouldn't mind being on a winning team.
3. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders
Adams can put all the lipstick on the pig that is Las Vegas' quarterback situation he wants to. But Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell are set up to waste another year of his career on a losing team, and head coach Antonio Pierce has already acknowledged the Raiders won't exactly be an offensive juggernaut this year.
Pierce and Adams also appear to be of opposite opinions about him playing in the preseason.
The Raiders are already easy to see as a looming trade deadline seller. Reuniting with Aaron Rodgers in New York on the Jets will remain a lingering thing regarding Adams, but maybe he'd like to join a team that's not rampantly dysfunctional and can actually win something this year.
The Lions should at least be keeping an eye on Adams' situation, in case they become inclined to make a big move to add a wide receiver.
2. Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
Higgins is lined up to hit the free agent market next March. After he asked to be traded, he eventually relented and showed up to play on the franchise tag this year. The Bengals won't necessarily be inclined to trade him, now or closer to the trade deadline, but what if a team (the Lions?) made an offer that couldn't be refused....? Getting something for a player you may only get a compensatory pick for would have to be appealing.
Like Cooper and Adams, Higgins is a more of a potential trade deadline target than a before the season trade target for the Lions. The percentage odds they make a move for any of the three feel low, but if things go into the season the way it looks they'll be right now there should be no stone unturned to add an upgrade at wide receiver.
1. Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
If the Steelers can't get a deal for Aiyuk to the finish line, Sutton is easy to put among their possible fallback options and broadly he's appealing potential trade target for a lot of teams. He had a contract squabble of his own with the Broncos this offseason, but a restructure got him to show up to work and he's under contract through 2025.
At 6-foot-4, 216 pounds, Sutton is a textbook definition of an "X" receiver the Lions don't have right now. He has topped 1,000 yards just once in his career, but he has topped 700 yards in five of his six seasons. The only exception is 2020, when he missed Week 1 and suffered a torn ACL in his Week 2 season debut.
Sutton can easily fit onto Detroit's balance sheet the next two seasons, with base salaries of $13 million (2024) and $13.5 million (2025).
Now, or closer to the trade deadline if circumstances dictate it better, Sutton makes all kinds of sense as someone the Lions should have on their trade radar if they end up in the market for a wide receiver.
