Detroit Lions stand pat at trade deadline

It appears the Detroit Lions—and just about the rest of the NFL—got all of their trades out of the way last week. After acquiring Everson Griffen for a conditional sixth-round pick a week ago, the Lions stood pat at the trade deadline, becoming neither buyers nor sellers despite their 3-4 record through seven games.

Over the past few weeks, there had been some rumors regarding the Lions’ wide receiver room. The Lions reportedly had some talks with the Giants about shipping Kenny Golladay, and some speculated Marvin Jones Jr. could be on the move. Golladay’s injury may have complicated that, but it doesn’t appear the Lions were ever involved in any serious talks for either player.

That also means the Lions couldn’t find a worthy deal to become buyers at the deadline. With general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia in a pivotal year, there was always a chance they made a drastic move in an effort to save their jobs. But the trail remained cold after their modest move to get Griffen last week.

The Lions weren’t alone on Tuesday, though. 2020 was a quiet year at the deadline, as the only a couple of minor moves were announced, including the Patriots acquiring Isaiah Ford for a 2020 seventh-round pick. Instead, it appears team wanted to get ahead of things with most of the transactions coming last week.

There are several potential reasons for this. For one, the onboarding process in the COVID era means that these traded players wouldn’t join their new teams for at least one additional week. Also, uncertainty around the 2021 salary cap could’ve made teams less open to acquiring more, expensive assets.

So the Lions will move forward with the cast that they have. Will that be enough for this team to play meaningful games in December? We’ll have to wait and see.