Trades are commonplace throughout the NFL draft. Picks get dealt all the time. But what if Lions GM Bob Quinn executed a trade involving a pick for a more proven player?
It is certainly possible in the unprecedented circumstances of the 2020 NFL Draft. Three players who can provide instant, veteran help to the Lions are reportedly on the trading block. Quinn needs to at least explore the possibility of acquiring each of them.
All three have been freshly rumored to be available, though the veracity of their reported availability is unknown. None should be worth more to the Lions than their pick at the top of the 4th round, No. 109 overall.
Kenny Stills, WR, Texans
It’s hard to explain what is going on with the Houston Texans as led by GM/head coach Bill O’Brien. After dealing away arguably the NFL’s best receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, for relative peanuts, the Texans then brought in high risk/reward wideout Brandin Cooks.
Their WR room is crowded with Cooks, Will Fuller, recently signed Randall Cobb and Keke Coutee. Stills, who turns 28 this week, is rumored to be the odd man out. If he is, he’s the kind of receiver the Lions can use to bolster the corps.
Stills caught 40 passes for 561 yards and four TDs in his first season in Houston, primarily playing as the No. 3 WR option behind Hopkins and Fuller. His appeal to the Lions would be how well he works in the middle of the field on both short and intermediate routes, but also works quite well in tandem with his WR mates.
He’s in the last year of his contract and is due $7 million in 2020. Given the Texans’ recent trades, it’s darn near impossible to even attempt to discern what they might want in return, but Quinn should at least call his old New England cohort, O’Brien.
Leonard Fournette, RB, Jaguars
Fournette was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and he helped Jacksonville to a great playoff run in his rookie season. Since then the bottom has fallen out for the Jaguars, and they are reported to be shopping Fournette, who hasn’t helped in the win column as hoped.
Fournette posted 1,152 rushing yards in 2019, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. He also caught a staggering 76 passes on 100 targets, proving he is more than capable of working out of the backfield. It was a nice rebound from a dismal 2018 when Fournette, 25, played just eight games and averaged a plodding 3.3 yards per attempt.
He’s due $4.17 million in the final season of his rookie contract, so there is a chance he’d be just a one-year rental. As long as he can stay healthy, Fournette would make a nice impact on the Lions backfield. He has battled several hamstring, quad and foot issues in his three NFL seasons, as well as two disciplinary suspensions that help explain why the Jaguars could be ready to move on.
O.J. Howard, TE, Buccaneers
Like Fournette, Howard was a celebrated 2017 first-round draft pick who has played reasonably well but hasn’t lit up the league as hoped. Howard has been good, consistently good in his three seasons.
After catching 34 passes for 459 yards and a touchdown, the Bucs might have concluded that level of good isn’t good enough for Tom Brady. Cameron Brate has proven a better red zone threat, and the loaded WR corps leaves little room for a receiving-only No. 2 tight end.
The Lions don’t have an urgent need for a No. 2 TE to play with T.J. Hockenson. But Howard is a distinct upgrade at that spot over Jesse James, who badly struggled in his first season in Detroit. Howard is a much more dynamic receiving presence and their Pro Football Focus blocking grades are near equal the last two years.
It might seem odd to bail on James in favor of Howard after a year, but no more odd than the Buccaneers giving up on the 25-year-old Howard after just signing Tom Brady with a very limited window for winning.
