The latest rumor, in a way, supports all the previous ones. Two different reporters—CBS’s Jonathan Jones and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler—noted on Thursday morning that the Lions are calling around to potentially seek a trade up this year.
“The Lions, per sources, have sniffed around moving up from 17th. Some sources have found it hard to believe GM Brad Holmes would make such a move in this draft because the Lions only have pick No. 50 before selecting again in the middle of the fourth round, and teams are behaving as though 2027 picks are untouchable.”
“Some teams are watching Detroit (17) as trade-up threat. They’ve been making calls.”
Now, before anyone overreacts to the news, it’s always important to note that exploring the trade market is part of a general manager’s job before the draft. Any proactive general manager should know what all of their options are ahead of time, especially with the time on the clock reduced from 10 minutes to eight minutes this year. Albert Breer does a good job explaining this in his latest batch of NFL Draft rumors:
“The reality is that the best teams, the ones that go into the draft with flexibility, generally make calls both ways, and that’s what GMs (or de facto GMs) Brett Veach, Will McClay, Les Snead and Howie Roseman are doing in this case. Which is what they should be doing.“
But at the same time, it makes sense to take these rumors about Lions general manager Brad Holmes seriously. For one, it appears that in order to grab their offensive tackle of choice, a trade up may be necessary if teams are indeed looking to get ahead of Detroit. Additionally, Holmes has shown no hesitation in the past to trade up and get the player he wants. In the past two drafts alone, Holmes has traded up a total of seven times. He’s traded up in the first round twice in five years.
So, take this news however you feel like it. Could be something, could be nothing. We’ll find out in a matter of hours.
