This Trade Would've Changed The ENTIRE Draft For The Lions...

AtoZ Sports

Mike Payton talks about some recent comments from Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes, that indicate the the team made multiple attempts to move up and land a premier edge rusher in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Transcript

00:00Call it a hunch, but we think the Detroit Lions tried to trade up for an edge rusher in the first

00:04round, and we think we know who that edge rusher was. Let's talk about it.

00:11Hi, Mike Payton from A to Z Sports Detroit. Today we're going to talk about how it kind of seems

00:15like the Lions tried to trade up for an edge rusher in the first round, and we kind of know

00:19who that guy might be. Let's talk about it. First edge rusher, you know, that's the thing Lions fans

00:23have wanted the most. It's the thing they talk about the most. It's the thing that the media

00:27talks about the most. It's the thing that annoys Brad Holmes more than anything. You could see it

00:32on his face. You could see it in his body language. You could hear it in his words. He's tired of

00:37talking about it. Well, speaking of talking about it, he was asked about edge rushers on day two

00:43after the second and third rounds concluded, and he had this to say. I don't need to get into

00:49specifics, but there were times we made attempts to get one, and they got picked before. You

00:54couldn't get up. It takes two to trade. So there's your first hand. I mean, there's your

01:00example right there. There's your proof that the Lions did attempt to trade up for an edge rusher

01:04at some point in time. Why do we think it was the first round? Well, you look at the top 30 visits

01:10that the Lions had with edge rushers. You get Shamar Stewart from Texas A&M. You got Josiah Stewart

01:15from Michigan and Q Robinson from Alabama. Now, Robinson went on day three. You know, the Lions could have

01:23drafted him at any point, and they didn't. Josiah Stewart, they had multiple chances to do that.

01:29They traded up twice on day two. They just didn't take him. Day one, they didn't attempt to trade up,

01:35and there's Shamar Stewart there. He goes 17th overall to the Bengals. We think they tried to jump

01:41the Bengals to get Shamar Stewart. And the reason why, look, if you look at, obviously, the Browns and the

01:48Jaguars started the draft off with a trade, but until then, there was no other trades.

01:53From the fifth pick on to, I think it was the 22nd pick, there were no trades.

02:01The Lions may have tried, which to me says all those teams wanted to stick and had guys they

02:05wanted to pick, obviously, and didn't want to trade down or risk losing those guys. So the Lions

02:10may have tried to trade up with the Cardinals or teams like that who were above the Bengals in the

02:17draft, and all those teams said no. And the reason we think they tried to trade up over

02:26those guys is because, hey, if you look past 17, there isn't any other edge rushers other than

02:31James Pierce, who gets taken later. The Lions were never going to take that guy. There was some

02:35character issues. It was just, he did not fit the Lions' culture-wise. He's just not the kind of guy

02:43for Detroit. Other than that, like, Shemar Stewart was really the only edge that was taken in the

02:49middle of the first round where the Lions could have traded up, was in their zone to trade up.

02:53They never did it. So I think that's the one that makes the most amount of sense. And then when you

02:59get to 28, there were still some guys left on the board. We know Donovan Ziraku, Nick Scorton,

03:03all those guys were there. The Lions chose to take Tyleek Williams. They had chances at all these other

03:08edge rushers. They didn't take him. Shemar Stewart's the one guy they had in for a visit

03:13that it just makes sense that they tried to trade up for him in a zone where nobody was willing to

03:19trade their picks. Takes two to trade, like you said. That's why we believe that the Lions attempted

03:26to get Shemar Stewart, but they didn't get him. And that's going to be all right. We'll see where

03:30that goes. You know, obviously, he's going to be pretty good for the Bengals, we think. He's,

03:34you know, but I think Ahmad Hassanin is going to be really good for the Lions. I think that was

03:38maybe one of the biggest deals of the draft. And when it comes down to it here in the next few

03:43years, I think you'll all see that. I think this guy, I mean, call me crazy. I think he's a future

03:48pro bowler. I really do. I believe that the work ethic and I believe that the athleticism that he

03:52already has alone could propel him there. We'll see where that goes, but that's what we think.

03:59That's why we are making this video because we think, hey, maybe there's a possibility they tried

04:02to trade up. It's just a hunch. Let us know what you think.

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