Denzel Mims trade: Full terms and conditions for Lions, Jets

Late on Wednesday night, news broke that the Detroit Lions and New York Jets have agreed to a trade that would send former second-round pick Denzel Mims to Detroit. Since the trade went public, details have been slowly rolling out about the trade (which remains unofficial). Here’s what we know about the trade terms and conditions so far.

Lions receive:

• WR Denzel Mims
• 2025 seventh-round pick (conditional)

Jets receive

• 2025 sixth-round pick (conditional)

On Wednesday night, only the Jets’ sixth-round pick was listed as conditional by reports, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero provided some clarity on the conditions of the trade on Thursday morning.

The condition is simple: If Mims makes the Lions’ 53-man roster, the trade goes through as listed above. If Mims does not make the 53-man roster, there are no picks exchanged. It would cost the Lions nothing.

The trade is, in essence, a free look at Mims in training camp and a way to avoid the waiver claim process. Had the Jets simply cut Mims, the Lions would have had to put in a waiver claim, and given that Detroit is currently 18th in waiver priority, there was no guarantee they’d be awarded him.

Now if Mims makes the team, it’s just a late-round swap for the Lions and an extremely affordable cap hit ($1.35M) on the final deal of Mims’ rookie deal. If Mims can’t crack the 53-man roster at the end of camp, It was a smart, costless way to take a flyer on an athletically gifted player who hasn’t yet found the production he had in college.