Micah Parsons is available, Trey Hendrickson is available. The Lions are trying to win a Super Bowl and could use a pass-rusher opposite Aidan Hutchinson. They're also trying to keep all the talented players already on their roster who need to be paid in the years ahead.
"We're not afraid to make a big move," team president Rod Wood said Thursday on 97.1 The Ticket. "We’re trying to make sure that we can keep the nucleus of this team together and not put any of that at risk by going to make a move where you bring in some other player that might have a big name, might be a great player, but that’s going to disrupt what we’ve got here and our plans for the future.
"We’ve got a lot of young guys who are on their rookie contracts who are going to be up for big extensions and we’ve been planning for that for years. You have to save money and save cap space for it. We probably have five or six guys that are amongst the best at their position and I don’t know if another team has that. And we’re trying to prepare to keep all those guys with us.”
Trading for a player like Parsons or Hendrickson would not only put a sizable dent in the Lions' draft capital and current roster, but the cost of extending said player would eventually prevent them from keeping some of their own -- and deplete their roster further.
The Lions have already locked up young stars Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Alim McNeill and Kerby Joseph, plus Jared Goff, for a total tab of about $627 million. Aidan Hutchinson is up next, and possibly Jameson Williams, first-round picks in 2022. Then Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch, second-rounders in 2023, then Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell, first-rounders in 2023.
Brad Holmes and the Lions have also made some significant additions in free agency the past two years, headlined by cornerback D.J Reed ($48 million) and defensive lineman D.J. Reader ($22 million). Regarding the notion that they aren't all-in to win a Super Bowl given their focus on both the future and the present, Wood said, "I feel, candidly, like we are all-in, with the team that we have."
"And the team that we have has been developed largely through the draft, but we’ve augmented it, bringing in Reed at corner, bringing in Reader last year. Those were big moves," said Wood. "And we’ve got some guys we brought in this year that were not big-ticket players but they’re going to help us. Roy Lopez is going to help us, Zach Cunningham is going to help us. They’re not big-name players but they’re depth behind guys that are great starters that we’re going to need at some point.
"So I think we are all-in, and I think we’re all-in with the coaching staff that we went out and got. I just tell the fans, give us a chance to show what we are when we get on the field."