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7 trade targets for Detroit Lions

Posted on by Kennedy
7 trade targets for Detroit Lions

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The Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys 47-9 on the road on Sunday, but that's not the main talking point of the Week 6 loss.

The Lions' top defensive player, Aidan Hutchinson, underwent surgery for a fractured tibia in his left leg after suffering the injury on a sack by Dak Prescott early in the third quarter on Sunday. Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9 in New Orleans is less than four months away, putting Hutchinson's season in jeopardy.

With Hutchinson out indefinitely, how can the Lions — 4-1 and one game behind Minnesota in the NFL's best division — replace his immense void and production from the defensive end position? What could Lions general manager Brad Holmes do to boost his pass-rush rotation?

Here's a quick look at who the Lions could use from their current roster and a potentially robust trade market at edge rusher.

Required reading: The Lions appear to be the Super Bowl favorites against the Cowboys, but Aidan Hutchinson's loss is incalculable

When is the 2024 NFL trade deadline?

The 2024 deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 5, one day after Week 9. The Lions play Minnesota, Tennessee and Green Bay in the next three weeks before the deadline.

Internal Lions candidates to replace Aidan Hutchinson

The Lions have already suffered serious injuries at the edge position this season, including Marcus Davenport (triceps) and Derrick Barnes (knee), as well as John Cominsky (knee) until the end of the season. Here are the Lions' other top players.

  • Josh Paschal: A 2022 second-round pick from Kentucky who has just three sacks in 27 career games for the Lions. He is 24 years old, 1.90 meters tall and weighs 120 kilograms and played alongside Hutchinson in the starting line-up.
  • Isaac Ukwu: A 25-year-old undrafted rookie free agent who had a strong preseason after spending his seventh and final collegiate season at Ole Miss. Ukwu is 6-3, 265. He was released despite three sacks in three preseason games, but the team re-signed him to the practice squad and made his NFL debut against the Cowboys.
  • James Houston: A 25-year-old 2022 sixth-round pick from Jackson State. Houston, a 6-1, 245 diminutive pass-rush specialist, had eight sacks in just seven games as a rookie but has not made an impact since and was inactive in Sunday's win over the Cowboys while Ukwu was active. Houston missed most of last season with a broken leg and has played just 17 defensive snaps in two games this year and was flagged for offsides twice in 14 snaps in Week 4.
  • Levi Onwuzurike: Onwuzurike was Holmes' second GM pick in Round 2 in 2021 and was selected by his teammates as a breakout player this season. The 26-year-old already has a career-best five QB hits this season and his 1½ sacks are a career-best. Onwuzurike is 6-3, 290 and can line up both inside and at the rim. He missed all of 2022 due to a back injury.
  • Mitchell Agude: The 25-year-old Agude, a “prodigy” after recovering from a skateboarding accident as a youth, has yet to play a snap this season. He joined the Lions' practice squad a little over a year ago, was released in August and then re-signed to the practice squad.

TRENDING: Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson remains in Dallas overnight with a “scary” leg injury

Lions exchange candidates to replace Aidan Hutchinson

Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders

The Eastern Michigan graduate would be a boon to the Lions' defense. In honor of Crosby, EMU renamed its football playing field at Crosby Field to Rynearson Stadium this summer. He is in the second year of a four-year, $94 million contract and has made three straight Pro Bowls. Crosby, 27, has 5½ sacks (2-4) in five games for the Raiders this season after collecting a career-high 14½ last season and 12½ in 2022. He led the NFL with 23 TFL in 2023 and 22 TFL in 2022.

Crosby, in his sixth season as a fourth-round pick of the Raiders in 2019, urged Raiders assistant coach Mike Caldwell along two hands to the chest during Sunday's Week 6 loss to Pittsburgh, but tried to downplay the incident after the fact a “love rush, stop reaching.”

Haason Reddick, New York Jets

Reddick is mired in a bizarre contract dispute with the Jets (2-3) and has yet to play a snap after being traded from Philadelphia for a third-round pick in the spring. He has cost himself millions so far and his agency parted ways with him after he turned down a revised one-year deal with the Jets. Reddick, 30, has recorded double-digit sacks four straight seasons, including 11 last season with the Eagles. He made the Pro Bowl the last two seasons and his three-year, $45 million contract expires after this season.

Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

Hendrickson, 29, had 17½ sacks last season and made three straight Pro Bowls. He has had at least 24 QB hits in four straight seasons and has five sacks in 2024. He requested a trade in April seeking a long-term contract, earning $14.8 million in 2024 and $15.8 million in 2025. Cincinnati sees itself as a contender, still at 2 -4, but if they continue to falter, Hendrickson could be a trade candidate. He was a third-round pick by New Orleans in 2017.

By Miller, Buffalo Bills

The 35-year-old has already taken a 3-2 pay cut from the Bills this season and is out with a four-game suspension until Week 8 for violating the league's code of conduct. He has three sacks in four games this season. He had no sacks in 12 appearances last season after suffering a torn ACL on Thanksgiving 2022 against the Lions. Miller may not be a good fit for the Lions after turning himself in to police in November 2023 on a warrant for third-degree assault on a pregnant woman. No charges were filed, but a police affidavit said Miller put his hand on the woman's neck during an argument, pushed her and pulled out some of her hair. Miller called the claims “100% false.”

Three others were named as trade candidates by Pro Football Focus last week

  • Emmanuel Ogbah, Miami Dolphins: “The 30-year-old has had a solid performance this year, posting a 64.4 PFF run defense score and managing 10 pressures in just 208 total snaps.”
  • Deatrich Wise Jr., New England Patriots: “Wise finds himself in a nearly identical situation to Ogbah: a veteran, impending free-agent edge rusher on a team that doesn’t appear to be able to come close to competing in 2024. The 30-year-old had a decent season as a rotation player. Rusher who racked up seven pressures and posted an overall PFF grade of 54.8. Has completed 99 pressures over the last three seasons, ranking 42nd.
  • Jamin Davis, commanders of Washington: “The former first-round pick hasn't lived up to the hype as a pro, and his 2024 wasn't particularly encouraging. As a linebacker and edge rusher, Davis has just an overall PFF grade of 65.0 and has yet to record pressures on just 70 total snaps.

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