The Lions went to LA last week with a receiving corps headlined by a punt returner -- and kudos to Kalif Raymond for playing well. Entering the game, Detroit's entire cast of healthy wide receivers had produced fewer yards this season than Cooper Kupp. Raymond wound up with six catches for 115 yards. The Lions' next leading receiver, KhaDarel Hodge, had one catch for three yards.
Wouldn't you know it, the Lions are "looking for help at receiver" ahead of the Nov. 2 trade deadline, according to SI's Albert Breer. Yep, Detroit's shortage of pass catchers is so stark that an 0-7 club might be shopping at the deadline.
Breer says that DeVante Parker of the Dolphins, Andy Isabella of the Cardinals and Darius Slayton of the Giants are potential trade targets that "have been discussed" around the NFL, though not necessarily in conjunction with the Lions. He adds the Saints are also 'among the teams' searching for receivers. So make of it what you will.
The Lions were always going to be thin this season at receiver, a luxury position for a rebuilding team. They replaced Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones with Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman. Danny Amendola departed as well. Then Perriman got cut in training camp and Williams went down in Week 1 with a concussion from which he hasn't returned.
And then Quintez Cephus went down in Week 5 with a broken collarbone, just as he was emerging as the team's top receiver. (Which is saying something!!) He's likely done for the year.
So here we are in Week 8 with tight end T.J. Hockenson and running back D'Andre Swift leading Detroit's passing game in targets, receptions and yards. Here we are in Week 8 with Raymond, who entered the season with 19 catches to his name over five NFL seasons, leading Detroit's receivers room with 26 catches for 334 yards. Here we are in Week 8 with the winless Lions apparently scanning the trade market for a receiver.
Asked what it would take for the Lions to be a buyer at the deadline, Dan Campbell said Wednesday he leaves such decisions up to GM Brad Holmes.
"If I'm being honest, I'm not even thinking about that. Brad's always thinking and looking like, 'What can we do? How can we upgrade? Is this a smart move? Is it not?' And if it's something he feels like is value, he'll bring it to me and we talk about it. But right now, that's not even on my mind. I'm about what we have on this roster right now and how we get the most out of them," Campbell said.
Holmes already traded for one receiver this season in Trinity Benson, a preseason standout for the Broncos. Benson was likely to be cut by Denver and land on the wavier wire, but Holmes said at the time the Lions didn't want to risk losing him to another team. So he parted with a pair of draft picks (fifth rounder, 2022; seventh rounder, 2023) to bring Benson to Detroit. The former undrafted free agent has six catches in five games.
It's hard to imagine Holmes parting with more draft capital for another receiver, unless it's a long-term play. Of the names mentioned by Breer, Parker is the most intriguing. The former first-round pick put up 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns two years ago for the Dolphins, followed by 800 yards last year. He has 242 yards in four games this year -- he hasn't played since Week 4 due to a shoulder injury -- which equates to about 1,000 yards over a full season. He's signed through 2023.
But again, there's no indication that the Lions are pursuing Parker specifically, or that the Dolphins are shopping him. Oh, and Parker carries a $12 million cap hit this season, followed by $9 million each of the two seasons to come, and the Lions, whose books are loaded with dead money, have about $2 million in cap space at the moment. So file this under 'Irresponsible Rumormongering' and move on with your weekend.
