The Detroit Lions will surely add an edge rusher (or two) this offseason, and Pro Football Focus has proposed an all-in trade.
This previous season, the Detroit Lions, headed by Aidan Hutchinson, had the highest pressure rate in the NFL at 28.2. However, they did not accumulate many sacks; their 41 sacks were in the bottom half of the league. Alim McNeill, a defensive tackle, had five, and Hutchinson had 11.5. After that, though, there was a sharp decline, as seen by the fact that Hutchinson was the only edge rusher with more than two sacks.
If CFL star Mathieu Betts stays, his presence will help close the pass rush gap, but the departure of free agents Charles Harris, Romeo Okwara, and Julian Okwara is almost a given. Thus, one or more more additions through the draft, trade, or free agency are undoubtedly on the way. or perhaps a mix of them of those avenues.
How “all-in” general manager Brad Holmes intends to add players this offseason is the key question. The simple answer is that he won’t pay someone a large amount of money in free agency or forfeit his enormous draft capital in exchange for a trade. However, it’s also reasonable to suppose that Holmes is astute enough to investigate a move before writing it off.
Lions go all-in for a veteran edge rusher in Pro Football Focus trade proposal
Pro Football Focus’s Brad Spielberger has provided a list of “4 NFL trades that could shake up the 2024 offseason.” The Lions are involved in the third one on the list.
“Khalil Mack, EDGE , LOS ANGELES CHARGERS → DETROIT LIONS”
- Trade compensation: 2025 fourth-round pick
- Contract acquired: One year, $23.25 million (non-guaranteed)
Spielberger did not say the Lions should absolutely acquire Mack, as he outlined the situation from both sides.
“This will be a tough needle to thread, much like DeAndre Hopkins last offseason, with the Arizona Cardinals ultimately having to just release the veteran wideout despite other teams having clear interest in his services. That interest comes at a price in this league, however, and Mack’s 2024 salary is exorbitant for a 33-year-old edge defender, even one coming off as strong a season as Mack’s 2023 campaign.”
“The challenge for Los Angeles will be convincing teams they are trading for the 2023 version of Mack and not what is more likely a player whose median expectation should fall somewhere between his past two seasons.”
Detroit and general manager Brad Holmes have done remarkably well to add young talent through the draft and came quite close to a Super Bowl appearance in 2023, and while they don’t want to get too aggressive with a bunch of key in-house extensions on the horizon, picking their spot in adding a savvy veteran difference-maker like Mack could push them over the edge.”
Mack’s “down year” based on deeper metrics in 2022 was eight sacks, after he had missed 10 games with a foot injury the previous season (the only time he has missed significant time in his career). That said, he had gone four straight seasons without getting double-digit sacks before this past season. He just wasn’t as dominant as he had been before.
The primary things with Mack are his age (33 on Feb. 22), what he’s making in the final year of his contract and the likelihood of some type of contract extension upon acquiring him. As Spielberger noted, somewhere between his last two seasons should be where statistical expectations are set for Mack next season.
Given their current cap crunch, the Chargers may be willing to cut Mack if a trade doesn’t work out, or they may be desperate enough to accept less for him than what it appears they could receive just by looking at his name.
Spielberger’s plan calls for a 2025 fourth-round pick, which wouldn’t be a steep price to pay to add a proven edge rusher like Mack. Everything else makes the Lions’ chances of trading for him seem improbable.
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