For the last week or so I have been thinking pretty hard about what the Lions should do with the #2 overall pick. Since the combine I have said Joe Thomas, but with a possibility of trading down if the opportunity came about. As it turns out, the love for Joe Thomas has stopped and as we are nearly through March, the newest flavor is Brady Quinn. Whether the Lions genuinely are interested in him is unknown, but it may just be apart of a plan to trade with Cleveland.
As I see it, the Lions would like to compile draft picks on the first day as the second day is already covered. The way to do that is by trading down, and this year is probably the best time to do it in the Lions' case. Taking Joe Thomas at #2 is reasonable but not practical. This leads to my next theory.
Not thinking of Brady Quinn as the choice, I have started to run through the scenarios that would allow Detroit to trade down once or even twice in the early stages of the first round. Detroit could swap picks with the Browns and pick up an extra pick in a later round for starters. Remember, Matt Millen's lone good decision as G.M. was trading down a spot with Cleveland to draft Roy Williams and Kevin Jones. Just because one trade happened doesn't mean it stops there. I'll let PFT explain.
First, there's a belief that the Lions eventually will trade the pick to the Browns, flip-flopping with Cleveland the No. 2 and No. 3 selections. The Browns would use the No. 2 pick to snare Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn.
Second, the Lions would hold an auction at No. 3 for the rights to receiver Calvin Johnson. Potential candidates include the Bucs at No. 4, the Redskins at No. 6, the Vikings at No. 7, and the Falcons at No. 8.
In theory, the Lions could use interest from a team like the Falcons to leverage an even better deal out of the Bucs, and then the Lions could draft left tackle Joe Thomas from the No. 4 spot.
Getting away from talks of the first pick, doing a trade like this could mean setting up something for later in the first round. If the Lions stockpiled enough first day picks then Millen could use a combination of them to trade back into the first round if there was another player the Lions wanted.
All I can say is that things will change on a daily basis from now until late-April. We really don't know what the Lions will do with their #2 overall selection. Heck, Detroit probably doesn't know. There are just too many things that could happen to change the situation at hand, so stay tuned.