Detroit Lions make no moves at quiet NFL trade deadline

As expected, the Detroit Lions did not make any move at the NFL trade deadline. Head coach Dan Campbell pretty much telegraphed that no moves were going to happen when he spoke to the media on Monday afternoon.

“I don’t see anything right now that I can say has any legs,” Campbell said.

Some believed the Lions should have been sellers at the deadline, considering their 2021 season is already lost with their current 0-8 record. However, Detroit doesn’t have a lot of tradable assets, and Campbell spoke to the value of the team’s current veterans, who may not be here for the long-haul, but are key locker room figures right now as the team battles some serious adversity.

“We are very young and they can be influenced one way or another if we’re not careful,” Campbell said. “And that’s why you want the right guys around them, which I think we’ve got the right vets around them.”

In total, it was a quiet year for the NFL trade deadline, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Most teams didn’t have a ton of cap room due to the reduced salary cap this year, making the finances of any trade just one more hurdle to leap. We did see a trio of edge defenders find new home as the Los Angeles Rams traded for Von Miller, the Chiefs added Melvin Ingram, and the 49ers acquired Charles Omenihu. The Jets also sent tight end Dan Brown to the Chiefs for guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and the Eagles acquired rookie cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. from the Broncos.

And despite all the smoke between the Miami Dolphins and Deshaun Watson, the quarterback is staying with the Houston Texans, to presumably ride the bench for the rest of the year.