The Lions had question marks in the secondary before Terrion Arnold got arrested. Now their only returning starter who could be on the field in Week 1 is D.J. Reed.
Their starting safeties could be Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox, their starting corners could be Reed and either Rock Ya-Sin or Ennis Rakestraw. Their nickel could be either Roger McCreary or rookie Keith Abney. The group could/should get stronger with the eventual returns of Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, but right now it looks like a weakness for a team with Super Bowl ambitions.
If they want proven help at corner, should the Lions call the Browns about Denzel Ward? Cleveland appears open for business, having just traded the best defensive player in the NFL.
"The Myles Garrett trade makes certain that no one is completely off-limits and that everyone has a price, and there’s a time and a place for everything," veteran Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot said Thursday on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. "But I really don’t see the Browns having any desire whatsoever to trade Denzel Ward.
"Of course, having said that, you can never say never about any of these things. You’re not going to trade someone until (a team) comes along and offers you Jared Verse and a first-round pick and a second-round pick and a third-round pick (for Garrett). We know that (GM) Andrew Berry loves to wheel and deal, but at this moment in time I don’t think they have any plans whatsoever to trade Denzel Ward."
Ward, 28, is coming off his fifth Pro Bowl season. He's rumored to be seeking a new contract, with no guaranteed money left on the final two years of his five-year, $100 million extension. He did not attend OTAs and did not participate in on-field activities during mandatory mini-camp.
What would he cost in a potential trade? The exact kind of capital that Brad Holmes is loath to give up.
"He’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league, he’s a great leader for this football team. First-round picks would certainly have to be involved, I don’t know if it would have to be multiple or if it would have to be one and some other good (assets). But you’re not going to give up Denzel Ward for nothing. He would come at a pretty steep and heavy price," said Cabot. "And once again, I just don’t even think that this is something that they want to do in any way, shape or form."
Ward carries cap hits of about $30 million each of the next two seasons, but the Browns could trade him at this point in the offseason without taking on much dead money: $13.4 million this year and $9.4 million next.
But similar to when they traded Garrett, they'd likely want premium draft capital and a promising young player in return.
Consider the cost of two star cornerbacks in recent trades: Trent McDuffie went from the Chiefs to Rams this offseason for a first-round pick, third-round pick, fifth-round pick and sixth-round pick. And Sauce Gardner went from the Jets to the Colts last season for two first-round picks and young receiver Adonai Mitchell.
The Lions are much more likely to lean on depth pieces like Rakestraw and Ya-Sin and even Abney than pay that sort of freight for a player whose financial price tag would preclude Detroit from extending one or more of its own stars, with Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Branch next in line to get paid.
