Notes: ESPN’s wild all-trades mock draft lands Aaron Donald with Lions

We are almost there. With a little over a week left until the 2023 NFL Draft, mock draft season is behind us. And if you’re like me, you feel like once you have seen several mock drafts, you have seen them all. Well, let me introduce you to the wackiest mock draft of them all—ESPN’s Bill Barnwell released his annual ‘all-trades mock draft’ and it is just as glorious as you would imagine.

That’s right, you read that correctly. Each of the 31 first-round picks were dealt, including both of the Detroit Lions picks. At six, Barnwell has the Lions trading a 2024 first-round pick to move up to three overall and draft University of Alabama standout Will Anderson Jr. As far as draft day trades go, we can probably file this one under a scenario that is within the realm of possibilities. At 18? Barnwell gets a bit more spicy—sending picks 18 and 55 to the Los Angeles Rams for All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

To Barnwell’s credit, the idea of the Lions pursuing Donald isn’t all that crazy—as Lions’ general manager Brad Holmes reportedly tried to acquire Donald via the Matthew Stafford trade.

“At 31 and having already flirted with retirement a year ago, Donald’s timeline might not align with L.A. given how the organization approached this offseason” wrote Barnwell of his idea to move Donald to Detroit. “He has a no-trade clause and might not be willing to waive it to go to Detroit, but the Lions have a more credible chance of making a deep playoff run in 2023 than the Rams do with their respective rosters.”

You can read the entirety of Barnwell’s mock draft with all of his crazy trades here.

And now, onto the rest of today’s notes:

• The Lions announced the launch of the Women of the Lions, a new employee resource group.

• The Lions tweeted this earlier and this is the kind of content that is just good for the football soul.

• Lions’ team reporter Dannie Rogers sat down and chatted with new Lions’ defensive line coach John Scott Jr.

• More photos from Day 3 of offseason workouts.

• Some members of the Lions decided to take advantage of the sunshine and took in a Detroit TIgers game at Comerica Park.