The Detroit Lions have one glaring area of need on defense, and one analyst believes they could address it through a Day 1 trade in the NFL draft.
The Lions found a star in pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, but have lacked depth in their edge-rushing group beyond the former first-round pick. Though the team did find a capable replacement in trade-deadline acquisition Za’Darius Smith after Hutchinson was lost to a season-ending injury, they head into 2025 with a question mark on the edge.
Russell Brown of USA Today’s Lions Wire believes the Lions could find help in the NFL draft, trading up in the first round for a player who could have an immediate impact.
Lions Could Find Willing Trade Partner
Brown suggested that there could be several opportunities for the Lions to trade up in the first round, with the Atlanta Falcons a prime target. The Falcons hold the No. 15 overall pick, but have only five total selections and could be willing to move back in the first round if it meant adding more picks.
“For Detroit, they could use their 2025 1st round pick (28th overall), 2025 3rd round pick (102nd overall) and a 2nd round pick from the 2026 NFL Draft,” Brown wrote.
Brown wrote that there could be two options for the Lions to boost their pass rush should they move up to the No. 15 spot.
“As for the Lions, I would assume they would be moving up for a defensive end. That could be Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams or Texas A&M EDGE Shemar Stewart,” Brown wrote. “Either player could provide an impact for the Lions defensive front. It’s hard to envision either player being available at pick 28 so trading up may be the only thing the Lions can do if they want to get ‘their guy.’ “
Stewart could be an especially good fit, adding size and physicality to Detroit’s defensive front. As ESPN noted, the 6-foot-5, 267-pound prospect turned heads with his performance at the NFL draft combine.
“[That type of performance] will always get your attention,” an AFC scout told ESPN. “There are not many people on the planet who can do that.”
Though Stewart had only 4.5 sacks in his college career, scouts believe he has the potential to break out at the NFL level.
“As a coach, if you think you’re worth a [expletive] at all, you’re going to watch a guy with all the traits and say, ‘I can get [the sacks] out of him, I can get him to play,'” a longtime former NFL defensive line coach said. “Those are the pound-the-table guys. You don’t want plateau players, guys who are as good as they’re going to be. You want potential.”
Lions Could Also Move Back
Brown wrote that the Lions could also move the opposite way, jumping back out of the first round and trading with a team in need of a quarterback.
He noted that both the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns — teams picking early in the second round — could be interested in landing Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart late in the first round so they have a fifth-year option.
