The Detroit Lions are a football team that has been built steadily through the draft.
Approaching the trade deadline, general manager Brad Holmes is doing his due diligence to try and improve the roster.
The three biggest areas of need are along the defensive line, offensive line depth and at cornerback.
Dan Campbell indicated he does not feel the team will be all that active at the deadline, but anything could happen by Tuesday afternoon.
“I mean look, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean we won’t. I mean he’s brought up a couple of things already,” Campbell said regarding the Lions’ potential deadline activity. “I’m so focused on the here and now and the roster we have in place, getting these guys ready to go. I love where we’re at. I think the roster is healthy, I think it’s in a good position, I think we have depth. But, like I say, he’s always looking to improve the roster. That’s one of his jobs, and he does a hell of a job at it.”
Campbell is not shy at all about going to the front office and expressing a desire for a certain position to be addressed or for added depth in order to be able to practice as intensely as everybody wants.
“If I’ve got something on my mind and I feel, absolutely I would go there,” said Campbell. “And we stay in open communication with that all the time. So, yeah. I mean if I feel like there’s something that is eating away at me a little bit or maybe just a bit of a concern, sure I’ll bring that to his attention.”
Detroit’s general manager has evaluated a myriad of players, and has expectedly been working the phones.
According to those with knowledge of the situation, the organization would be comfortable going to the playoffs with the current roster. Detroit’s front office feels comfortable in the players expected to return and with the development of players lower on the depth chart and on the practice squad.
Detroit’s coaching is highly anticipating the return of several defenders who are expected to provide depth and the ability to pressure the quarterback a number of different ways.
An issue Detroit faces when making calls is the asking price to make a splash. Other teams are willing to offer multiple first-round picks, something Detroit is not exactly thrilled to do, given the philosophy of building through the draft.
The asking price for top-end talent has been quite high, and the biggest challenge Holmes faces is many teams are also asking for players to be included in deals.
Detroit is not willing to include young starters in any trade deals. Being a good team, the picks that would be dealt would be lower in each round, giving other teams a slight advantage in the offers they could make.
Holmes would really like to solidify the depth along the offensive line, as the team has two older players starting. Taylor Decker is grinding through a shoulder injury, and the team would like added comfort. Detroit could also play a versatile lineman into the rotation, if needed.
The latest ‘Lone Wolves’ podcast discusses the latest Lions rumors, trade deadline buzz and which players Holmes should target and which players the NFC contenders should clearly avoid.
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