Wednesday open thread: Do you approve of the Jeff Okudah trade?

The Detroit Lions traded away their former third overall pick Tuesday, sending cornerback Jeff Okudah to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a fifth-round pick. The move came a little bit as a surprise, but not entirely out of left field. Okudah was selected under the previous regime, and the Lions brought in several defensive backs such as Cameron Sutton, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Emmanuel Moseley via free agency. He had struggled to develop due to several injury-shortened offseasons, and ultimately it was time for a fresh start.

Question of the day: Do you approve of the Jeff Okudah trade?

My answer: There are two components to this. On the one hand, there’s the principle of trading Okudah. I don’t think I would have pulled the plug if I were in the Lions front office, but I understand the decision to do so. After as much turmoil as Okudah has faced, a fresh start may just be what he needs. That decision was fine by me.

The other part is the compensation. I don’t think you realistically could have asked for more than a day three pick, all things considered. Since being drafted third overall, Okudah has struggled mightily, as well as suffered a torn achilles, something that can ruin careers, let alone deplete trade value. Okudah’s stock is low, having finished the season with being benched. When you sell low, you don’t get a great return.

Personally, I don’t like the compensation. I don’t think the Lions could have gotten much more than they did, but for a fifth-round pick, I think I would have rather kicked the tires on letting Okudah see a full offseason and see if one more year works out for him. Ultimately, I understand the flipside of it. A fifth-round pick can easily be a solid rotational or special teams contributor. To me, however, kicking the tires on Okudah one last time is probably better than most of your long-term prospects at defensive back in the fifth round.

I’m not mad about it, though. Ultimately, it was a fair trade, and probably more than most teams could have scored given where Okudah is currently at.

What do you think? Would you have done things differently? Vote in our poll below and let us know your thoughts in the comments by scrolling down.