The Lions had some trade talks Tuesday before the 4 p.m. deadline -- "there were things that popped up," Dan Campbell said Wednesday -- but nothing that advanced to the point of serious consideration.
"We started getting some things here and there. It was just, there was nothing that I would say was enough to be noteworthy," Campbell said. "I mean, it was certainly more intriguing, but it wasn’t good enough. So, all good. We’re ready to roll."
Despite a need on the offensive line after losing left guard Christian Mahogany to a broken bone in his leg, the Lions are sticking with the guys they have in the building. They're banking on familiarity between the players up front being more beneficial that inserting a new face at the cost of draft capital.
"It helps when you’re around these guys for a long enough time," Campbell said. "We’ve got some guys that have been here for a while now, so they’ve been trained a certain way, they understand what we want, what we’re looking for, how to play the game. So I think it gives them confidence, yeah."
Some of the Lions' trade talks involved "solid players," Campbell said, but either the price, the fit or the player himself didn't make sense: "When we make a move, you’ve got to check all the boxes." Campbell and GM Brad Holmes refuse to concede any of them.
"We look at the type of person -- will he fit in this locker room? The type of player. What does he look like next to this player? Does he elevate this player? Yeah, he’s a little better, but is it really worth that for what you’re giving up versus the next guy we have ready to go as the backup that’s coming off of vet squad? Those most of the time are the ones that we are like, ‘Well, no, I don’t think so.’ And we’ve been pretty good so far," Campbell said. "Doesn’t mean it’s perfect, but that’s just how we feel."
Holmes was groomed by Rams GM Les Snead, who embraced an 'F Them Picks' philosophy in sacrificing draft capital for proven players that helped the team win the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. The Lions have been much more measured under Holmes, at least when it comes to midseason moves.
Asked if the Lions would ever adopt the Snead approach, Campbell said, "When you start talking like that like -- 'throw all the picks away' -- that’s a lot. I mean, that’s a lot of capital, especially with the guys that we’ve got that we’re signing and we want to continue to sign to keep what we have intact. You’ve also got to pay that player, too, probably. Otherwise why are you throwing all the picks at a guy that you’re buying for a year? And so then, everything that we planned for, you just might as well throw it in the trash."
"So, I don’t want to say never," Campbell said. "There's not a never. Look, Brad and I have had conversations. This isn’t like we just say, 'No, no, we’re not even going to talk about that.' We talk about everything, we do. We sit there and we’ve thought about that before: ‘What if we did this, this and this?’ I mean, these conversations come up. But he and I both agree that this is how we proceed, this is how we go about our business and we have a long-term approach."
The Lions plan to start by inserting Kayode Awosika at left guard, as they did after Mahogany left last week's loss to the Vikings. They're also considering Trystan Colon at different spots, including center, which would bump Graham Glasgow to left guard. Indeed, Campbell said he's "considered everything." The Lions also started the practice clock Monday of rookie offensive lineman Miles Frazier, the fifth-round pick who's been sidelined since the spring with a knee injury.
"We’ll start as we ended that game the other day and then maybe we start moving some pieces around. That’s kind of where I’m at now. Doesn’t mean that I will do it, but I’d like to do it today at least a play or two and see what that looks like, see where we’re at," Campbell said.
The Lions enter Week 10 ranking third in the NFL in scoring, but 25th on third down. They've struggled to run the ball consistently for a few weeks, which won't get any easier without Mahogany and with left tackle Taylor Decker playing through knee and shoulder injuries. But they'd rather solve those issues with the players they know best.
"Look, I go back to, you know your own guys," Campbell said. "You’ve been around them, you’ve seen them. You know the greatness behind them, you know their warts, too. And we all have them. My point is, you know the strengths, you know some of the weaknesses, you know how they’re made, you know how they react under pressure. You know what they’re like every day in practice when they haven’t gotten an opportunity but they want one. You see all these things and as long as they’re continuing to grow and get better and better, then our trust goes up in those guys.
"It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be perfect, but it gives you faith in those guys. And until further notice, they’d have to prove us wrong. They get an opportunity, then fine, prove us wrong. If we do, we’ll move on to the next guy."
With the deadline in the rearview and nine games to go, Campbell is eager to proceed with the players who are present.
"Dude, I feel good. I’ll say this again: my job is to freaking get these guys ready to play on Sunday. And I’ve got the roster to do it. We’ve got depth, we’ve got the dudes, we’ve got weapons, we’ve got a quarterback. I’ve got to do my part. I’ve got to do my job and get them ready, and I’ve got to make sure we cross all the T’s, dot the I’s. And that we turn over every stone and make sure our guys are ready to roll. So, I’m good," Campbell said. "I feel great, I really do."