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Last week, Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn told a select group of Detroit media that the Lions were in the exploratory phase of Darius Slay trade talks. He made clear that the Lions weren’t actively shopping Slay, but simply in the information gathering phase, seeing what they could potentially get for the All Pro cornerback.
“I think what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to explore a trade,” Quinn said. “That’s not saying we’re definitely trading him. We’ve had some conversations with other teams. Nothing to report right now. I think we’re very much in the information gathering phase of this.”
Well on Tuesday, Quinn got a very relevant piece of information to consider. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Jacksonville Jaguars are trading cornerback A.J. Bouye to the Denver Broncos for a fourth-round pick.
Bouye has two years remaining in his contract (at $13 million per year) compared to Slay’s one ($10 million), is nine months younger than Slay, and has eerily similar PFF grades over the past four seasons.
Slay is still thought of as generally a better cornerback, so it’s possible the Lions could earn a third-round pick if they still plan on shopping him, but it appears hopes of a second or first-round pick are a bit too greedy at this point.
The Jaguars were a little more desperate to move on from Bouye and appear to be in rebuilding mode, so the comparisons aren’t perfect, but it’s still an important data point to consider as Slay trade rumors continue.
- This week on the PODcast, we argued that Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown probably wasn’t worth the third overall pick. But former defensive lineman Stephen White believes Brown is a top-five pick not only in this draft, but in any draft. See his compelling argument here.
- Congratulations to Devon Kennard for getting married over the weekend. A slew of Lions players were in attendance for the ceremonies, and, of course, Romeo Okwara took some great photographs of the event:
There was also this great one of QB1 and WR1.5:
- For those hoping Chase Young falls to the Lions with the third overall pick, these two post-Combine mock drafts are for you. Both, SB Nation’s Dan Kadar and PFF’s Michael Renner have Washington taking Tua Tagovailoa at two, leaving the Lions to take the Ohio State pass rusher at three.
- On the other hand, ESPN’s Todd McShay told a group of reporters via teleconference that he believes there’s only a 10-15 percent chance of Young falling to the Lions.
- How freakin’ cool is this? Our own Kent Lee Platte was on the official Miami Dolphins podcast this week to discuss his RAS metric and the NFL Combine:
New Drive Time Podcast!
— Travis Wingfield (@WingfieldNFL) March 3, 2020
- @MathBomb joins to discuss the Relative Athletic Score for this years draft class, and current Miami Dolphins
- Cal S Ashtyn Davis on Dolphins DB Coach Gerald Alexanderhttps://t.co/BaDPc0OH22 pic.twitter.com/VfPH2KDMS4
- The Athletic’s Chris Burke listed all the things he learned about the Lions from the NFL Combine, including his thoughts on Isaiah Simmons, the draft’s wide receiver depth, and Detroit’s guard situation.