5 trades the Detroit Lions COULD MAKE ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline 👀

Ryan Wilson joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss 5 trades the Lions NEED to make ahead of the 2025 NFL trade deadline.

(0:00) Intro
(1:38) DE Jaelan Phillips
(2:57) CB Alontae Taylor
(3:42) CB Cam Taylor-Britt
(4:35) OT Braxton Jones
(5:28) G Wyatt Teller

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Welcome back into CBS Sports HQ on a Wednesday. How do you say it, Chris? Wednesday. Wednesday. On a little Wednesday here, uh we’re going to talk about the Detroit Lions. We have the trade deadline that is just around the corner. Lions this season. Look, uh they’re the second betting favorite to win the Super Bowl, sitting behind the Kansas City Chiefs. So, if you want to put a little money on them, maybe not a bad bet. They’re 3-0 at home. They are two-2 on the road. Offensive points per game, third in the NFL. could do a little bit better on defense, but still not too shabby. That said, the goal is the Super Bowl, so we are going to try to get them there. Well, Ryan Wilson is joining us. Uh, our draft expert in this instance, you’re going to be a trade expert. You’re going to give us five trades to try to help the Lions before. Ryan, give me an idea when you look at this team before we get into specifics. Where do they specifically need help? Hey, Amanda, happy Wednesday to you and Hassel there. Yeah. So, they need help in terms of staying healthy because they that’s the issue with them. They struggle to stay healthy. Luckily, they have Jared Goff and that highpowered offense with Jamir Gibbs and Amar St. Brown to sort of help them along the way. But in terms of needs, edge rusher is a position. We’ve talked about that in part because Marcus Davenport has not been able to stay healthy. Aiden Hudson is back from that leg injury that robbed him of the second half of last season. In the secondary, Brian Branch missed time obviously because of the suspension. Uh but Kirby Joseph has missed time because of injury. Terry and Arnold has missed time because of injury. So, the injury bug is the real uh bugaboo, if you will, for that team. Uh, but that’s where they need help most. Uh, defensive line, edge rush position specifically, and of course in the secondary. All right. Well, let’s start here with your top one. Um, and you told me this is the one that you would want the most. Maybe it’s not the most realistic is Dolphins defensive end Jaylen Phillips. How would this trade go down? Yeah, you’d have to imagine that the Dolphins are in the market to move a lot of people not named Jaylen Waddle, it sounds like, uh, just because they’re not a very good football team. And Jaylen Phillips is a former first round pick from the U, who when healthy can take over games. The issue is that he has struggled to stay healthy. But I love the idea of him being the book end to Aiden Hutcherson in Detroit where he’s not asked to do uh everything because Aiden Hudson will be doing a large part of that. Uh, Aiden leads the team with six sacks. AQ Muhammad has five sacks as a as a role player, part-time player. I think Jaylen Phillips comes in and can be a difference maker right away as just solely a pass rusher. So, I think that’s a huge And by the way, as I interrupt myself here, that graphic there, Eli McNeel being back is a huge development for this the middle of that defense. He was an impactful player uh from the moment he stepped on the field on Monday night. So, I love the idea of Jaylen Hills being there uh opposite Aiden Hudson. Let’s go to the secondary. And and I think this is what I heard that for the Lions, everybody who started in the secondary this past game, not one of them was there in week one. So there’s been just so much rotation there. So you are looking for a quarterback. Who is it and what team? Yeah. So I got a couple names here. Lante Taylor currently plays for the Saints and he is the great thing about him is that he’s long and physical and he also can play multiple positions in the secondary. And when you’re talking about the Lions secondary that struggles with injuries at every single position, that’s what makes Alante Taylor so intriguing. It’ll probably cost a little bit to get him, but we know that Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell are unafraid to to spend draft capital to get a player that they think can be impactful. and and I don’t know where the Saints are in terms of moving Elante Taylor specifically because he’s such a an important part of their secondary, but it would be a conversation I’d be willing to have if I’m Brad Holmes calling Mickey Lumis asking about Alante Taylor because not only is he a really good player, he can play several positions in a secondary that’s been ravaged by injuries in Detroit. You’re also looking at Cam Taylor Brett with the Bengals. Uh and you told me this might be the most realistic and it does look like they could be interested in trading him, right? And you have to ask yourself, why would the Bengals want to trade Cam Taylor Brit? Well, he got benched because he wasn’t playing up to the standards, and I have to say this laughing, of that Bengals defense, which has not been very good. But again, he’s a long physical quarterback. Uh he can get a little handsy at times, but he does have ball skills. He’s going to play primarily outside. Uh they like physical quarterback play in Detroit with Kelvin Shepard, and I think he fits there. But the thing is, you have to get him out of those bad habits that landed him on the bench in Cincinnati. the the upside if you’re Detroit is that you can probably get him uh at a much cheaper rate than you might have to pay for someone like Elante Taylor. Uh and he’s still only 26 years old, so there’s a chance he can turn this thing around and return to the form that we saw a couple years ago when he was a starter week in and week out in Cincinnati. Let’s go to the offensive side of the ball, specifically the O line there. Uh some trades you’re looking at, one of them being Braxton Jones with the Bears. Yeah. So, he got benched uh for an undrafted free agent in Chicago and he’s a good player. Final year of his deal, plays tackle, and the only reason I have him on this list is again injuries. We saw Taylor Decker go down. We saw Gio Manu go down the backup and they had their third tackle out there. Dan Skipper having to start a football game. Taylor Decker’s back, but Braxton Jones provides some insurance down the stretch because, you know, we’re talking about this because the Lions are legit Super Bowl team, and if you lose your first two tackles, you need to have a plan C in that case. Now, a lot of credit goes to Dan Skipper for for being able to man that position for a game, but I think you’d like to have a a more stable backup plan in the form of Braxton Jones, uh, should you be able to land him. Offensive guard looking at Wyatt Teller with the Browns. Um, why do you like this and could it happen? Yeah, sort of the same conversation. Just stock up on big guys on the interior because this offense is only going to go as far as you allow Jared Goff in that run game to take them. And this is basically insurance against worst case scenario injuries happening and I know they’ve been able to sustain those injuries uh for the first half of the season, but you just have to be careful because you don’t want to play with fire and then have this whole thing sort of blow up in your face when you lose key cogs to that offensive line to injury. Uh Wyatt Teller, I believe, was also in the last year of his deal. He’s still just 30 years old, so he can play. He has battled some injuries, however. Uh but I love the idea of just stockpiling positions and making a run for it. And this means overpaying in the short term by way of draft capital or maybe even players, but you guarantee uh at least a really good opportunity to win the Super Bowl. It feels like a gamble worth making. Just trying to look around. I mean, it looks like the Eagles are interested in him. The Cowboys could be interested in him as well. A lot of teams there. Let me ask you this. When it comes to Lions, do you think they need to make some of these trades in order to truly be a Super Bowl contender? I mean, as of right now, look, they’re they’re at the top. Um, how do you feel about the Lions potentially being a realistic Super Bowl contender? Really, really, really good. And again, they’re not 100% healthy. So, as long as you have uh keeping Jared Goff upright and you have Jir Gibbs back there with David Montgomery and of course, Amar St. Brown and all those playmakers, JMO, uh, and so on and so forth. I feel like they’re in a great spot. This is more precautionary than anything. You know, it’s like stretching before you go outside, do a bunch of wind sprints. Uh, you could probably get away with doing wind sprints without pulling a hamstring, but fingers crossed just in case. Uh, I’ll do a little stretching and hopefully give myself a better chance of making it to the finish line. Ryan Wilson, I appreciate it. I appreciate your time. You gave me some, um, good advice of where I went over the weekend, Ryan. You did not tell me though that the only place I could find wine was a boxed wine. So, I will give you a check mark for that. Ryan Wilson, the host of With the First Pick podcast. Make sure to download and listen or watch it to see Ryan’s lovely face. When you need your sports news all the time, we’ve got breaking news to bring to you. CBS Sports HQ gives you a snapshot of all the sports that matter to you. Big news coming out of the NFL. A lot of movement in the rankings this week with highlights. What a finish at the final round of play. An in-depth analysis. Can they three? Tony Romo joins the conversation. What can you say about this game? When you need your sports in a snap, we’re bringing you that breaking news right here on HQ. 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