Detroit Lions: 2025

[Motown Bombers]

2 hours ago, Hongbit said:

This is an article on the Eagles approach to the deadline.  These teams are very similar in both talent and current goals.  The approach taken at the deadline by their GM was very different.   Definitely worth a read to understand the thinking behind a team that took another route than Brad.  

It also goes into the tactic of being able to acquire players without actually losing any draft capital.  Very shrewd way of working the deadline.    
 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardmegdal/2025/11/06/how-philadelphia-eagles-howie-roseman-won-the-nfl-trade-deadline/

The Eagles wouldn’t have had to make those moves if they didn’t let two of their three best defensive linemen leave. 

[Motown Bombers]

The Lions should do like the Eagles and get Suh to come out of retirement. 

[sagnam]

On 11/7/2025 at 9:09 AM, Jason_R said:

You talk about logical fallacies then say "...almost any player can be had for the right price... the middling players that other teams can replace and that are an upgrade for the Lions." 

With the trade deadline being halfway through the season and especially with the extra wild card team, very few teams were obviously out of playoff contention. And even those that are out of playoff contention are not necessarily in fire sale mode. GMs know they have to field a roster next year, and, in fact, the rest of this year. So while, in the very abstract, one GM could pry away a player another GM was not actively shopping by making a ridiculous offer, that strategy is not going to work long-term.

Also, maybe five years ago or more, a middling player on another team might have been an upgrade for the Lions, but this roster is now one of the best in the NFL. How many middling players on the Jets, Titans, Raiders -- players they believe they can field a team without -- would actually be an upgrade for the Lions? I don't think there are as many as you think there are.

The people complaining now that Holmes did not make a trade at the deadline are the same people complaining that he didn't re-sign Zadarius Smith in the offseason. Hmmm... maybe he knows things we don't.

Holmes does have a track record of reaching with those third-round picks. It is hard to see the investments in players like Martin and Hooker not pay off, and maybe if he had been more conservative there he could have been more aggressive at the trade deadline. But this is the best Lions team we have ever seen and they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender if they can dial in their protection and play calling. 

I stand by the comment that many players in this league can be had for the right price. It might be way more than you are willing to pay, but they can. Some of those middling players might only be moved for an insane return. It’s not as simple as no one is tradable or everyone is available. The truth lies in between. All too often you see decent players moved for mid-round picks.

This is a talented roster, no doubt. It’s also one with injuries. Sure almost every team is dealing with injuries, it’s a violent sport. That is not a reason to throw out the whole idea. It’s actually justification to acquire more or improved depth.

Both tackles are hurt, Decker is tough and fighting through injuries, Sewell was on the ground in pain multiple times last week. Both guards are hurt. Ratledge went to the locker room before Mahogany got seriously hurt. Over half of the secondary is out. We played a game a few weeks ago with nobodies in the secondary by the end.

I have no idea who’s after Skipper with Manu out. We don’t have another guard. We have a Colon backing up center. I don’t think there is any chance Glasgow goes back to guard if more guys go down, we’d have an even less talented center then.

Again, I don’t have the answer. I don’t know who was available. I am saying that doing nothing is a decision too. It’s a choice and we should consider that choice when we look back on the season.

I think it’s too common that questioning decisions is met with outlandish rhetoric.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, sagnam said:

I stand by the comment that many players in this league can be had for the right price. It might be way more than you are willing to pay, but they can. Some of those middling players might only be moved for an insane return. It’s not as simple as no one is tradable or everyone is available. The truth lies in between. All too often you see decent players moved for mid-round picks.

This is a talented roster, no doubt. It’s also one with injuries. Sure almost every team is dealing with injuries, it’s a violent sport. That is not a reason to throw out the whole idea. It’s actually justification to acquire more or improved depth.

Both tackles are hurt, Decker is tough and fighting through injuries, Sewell was on the ground in pain multiple times last week. Both guards are hurt. Ratledge went to the locker room before Mahogany got seriously hurt. Over half of the secondary is out. We played a game a few weeks ago with nobodies in the secondary by the end.

I have no idea who’s after Skipper with Manu out. We don’t have another guard. We have a Colon backing up center. I don’t think there is any chance Glasgow goes back to guard if more guys go down, we’d have an even less talented center then.

Again, I don’t have the answer. I don’t know who was available. I am saying that doing nothing is a decision too. It’s a choice and we should consider that choice when we look back on the season.

I think it’s too common that questioning decisions is met with outlandish rhetoric.

Everything you say here is reasonable. But I’m not the one using outlandish rhetoric. I’m not the one criticizing Holmes for not signing a guy who retired mid-season. I’m not the one saying any player can be had if you just want him bad enough, then putting up asterisks and saying, “Well, maybe not him, and maybe not him.” 

I believe that Holmes has a top tier scouting staff, both college and pro. I believe they know who they have and they have a good sense of who in the NFL is better than their guys and who is not, so when they say “We’re good,” I generally think they believe it. I think Holmes has reached for a few players who haven’t worked out, and maybe he would have been more active at trade deadlines if he had retained assets, but I’m not too mad because he “reached” for a lot of the players who are now part of the core.

Mostly, I think the offensive players, and Campbell for that matter, are hinting the problem is with Morton not with the OL. It is not good to have lost Mahogany but they seem to think they have the personnel to ride out a few weeks without him. Maybe they are wrong, but they make multiple millions of dollars every year to make these decisions, so they cannot afford to get too many of them wrong. If they thought their season was on the line due to losing mahogany, I believe they would have paid the price.

[1984Echoes]

18 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

... I believe that Holmes has a top tier scouting staff, both college and pro. I believe they know who they have and they have a good sense of who in the NFL is better than their guys and who is not, so when they say “We’re good,” I generally think they believe it. ...

... not with the OL. It is not good to have lost Mahogany but they seem to think they have the personnel to ride out a few weeks without him. ...

Specifically what this tells me, as I thought about it after the deadline after not making a trade, is that:

DC and Holmes believe they are better off with Trystan Colon (can play C or G, 15 prior NFL starts), Kayode Awosika (has played quite a lot of Guard for the Lions), Kingsley Eguakun (can play C or G, UDFA Center a couple years ago that they've been "coaching up")...

Than anything on the trade market that was offered.

We'll see how that works out over the next few weeks.

But...

In Dan and Brad I Trust.