There are some tough decisions to be made in Detroit over the next few days. The Lions must cut the roster down from the current 80 players to just 53 by Tuesday afternoon.
A lot of the cuts are pretty easy to predict, but there are some legitimate bubble battles going on through Sunday’s final preseason game in Pittsburgh. But could the Lions find a trade partner for some players who are on the roster chopping block?
It’s a question worth exploring. Teams have shown a propensity to offer up late-round picks to ensure they land a player about to be cut instead of potentially losing out to other teams in the waiver claim process. Detroit did this a year ago in dealing two late-round picks to Denver for wide receiver Trinity Benson.
The Lions do have a couple of bubble players who almost certainly would be claimed on waivers if they don’t make the initial 53-man roster. But trading for a player is different than making a waiver claim. It implies a combination of positional scarcity on the market and desperation on the part of another team to fill a hole.
Enter the offensive line…
A lot of teams around the NFL are looking for offensive line depth right now. As one league source put it, "OL scarcity is real."
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) August 26, 2022
Guard Logan Stenberg is somewhere between No. 52 and 55 on the Lions roster order. He might make it, he might not. His value has never been higher, however; Stenberg had a phenomenal outing in the Lions’ second preseason game.
No. 71 will earn less than $1 million in 2022 and has another year remaining on his rookie contract. That makes him very attractive to a contending team in need of help on the interior offensive line. It’s never really worked for Stenberg in nearly three years in Detroit prior to the past 10 days or so. Stenberg is probably worth more to another team than he is to the Lions as the No. 9 OL on a team that could keep just eight.
Wide receiver is another spot where the Lions have–potentially–one more useful 2022 NFL player than roster opening. Benson is one of them, but it’s difficult to envision another team making the same trade for No. 17 that Lions GM Brad Holmes did a year ago. Quintez Cephus and/or Tom Kennedy might be a different story.
Kennedy has a viable claim to being the best wideout in the NFL in the exhibition season. The plucky former lacrosse standout has been open all summer and lit up the Falcons and Colts working with both Tim Boyle and David Blough.
Cephus has impressed when he’s been on the field, but keeping the third-year wideout healthy has proven difficult. He has strong hands and provides a wider target than his 6-foot-1 length would indicate. The lack of speed–he’d be the slowest LB on the Lions roster using GPS timing–and the ongoing durability issues keep Cephus on Detroit’s bubble. But for a WR-needy team (Cleveland? Chicago?) he could be worthy of a late-round pick to be the No. 4 wideout.
The Lions could have a surplus at tight end too, though it’s hard to see another NFL team giving up an asset for Devin Funchess when he’s proving his chronic injury issues aren’t a thing of the past. Shane Zylstra could coax back a conditional late pick, but it’s my belief he’s safely on the roster. Speedy veteran CB Mike Hughes hasn’t fit in as hoped in the secondary and offers big-game experience and special teams ability that could entrance a team to pull the trigger instead of waiting to see if the Lions release him.
There’s always the weird, unknown variable too. Two late-round rookies, DE James Houston and CB Chase Lucas, are not givens to make the final roster. Could Holmes flip one of them to recoup the draft value?
