NFL Trade Deadline 2017: Latest Rumors Heading into Deadline Day

We have officially arrived at the trade deadline of the 2017 NFL season. With so little time remaining before 4 p.m ET, the rumors are swirling around.

And with the deadline looming, we've already seen perhaps the most insane transaction: The New England Patriots traded quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a second-round pick, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Madness!

Let's examine three of the latest rumors as we approach the witching hour—nothing will top the Patriots' move, but these are some good ones.

The Detroit Lions could potentially be quite busy.

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Detroit Lions to Part with TE Eric Ebron?

According to Ian Rapoport (h/t Kevin Patra) of NFL Network, the Eric Ebron experiment in Detroit could be coming to a close.

As Patra indicated, Ebron was a former top-10 draft pick by the old Lions regime led ex-general manager Martin Mayhew. However, with Bob Quinn running the show it might be time to cut the cord.

In his four seasons with the Lions, Ebron has failed to live up to his top-10 draft pick status. Not only has he had an issue with drops, he's also only reached the five-touchdown mark once (2015). In the other seasons, he's only been able to find the end zone once. 

Coming out of college, Ebron was supposed to be the second-coming at the tight end position.

For whatever reason, it just hasn't work out in the Motor City.

A change of scenery would likely help Ebron. 

However, with an $8.25 million price tag looming for 2018, it's unlikely the Lions would get anything major in return.

It's unknown which teams have reached out regarding Ebron, but after Week 8, it sounds like Ebron doesn't care where he ends up.

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A Potential Megatron Return?

Just like Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, it seems as though we might have another retiree making a comeback: wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, two teams have reached out to the Lions about trading for the rights of Johnson.

In response, the Lions told interested teams to reach out to Johnson to see if he'd want to play again.

As Schefter noted, Johnson has said many times he will not return to football, but these two teams obviously need wide receiver help bad enough that they're willing to give it a shot.

In addition to Schefter's report, Chris Mortensen discussed Monday morning on Mike & Mike about the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars being two teams that are interested.

Examining the Eagles and Jaguars, the Jaguars would make more sense. The Eagles also have a need at left tackle, and they don't own a second or third-round pick for this upcoming draft. The Jaguars lost wide receiver Allen Robinson at the beginning of the season and could use a No. 1 wideout to complement Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee.

With that said, Johnson hasn't played since 2015 and could be a bit rusty. We've seen this with Lynch who returned to the Raiders this season after not playing a season—he's not as explosive or productive.

The biggest hurdle teams face now is convincing Johnson to come out of retirement. Both the Eagles and Jaguars make sense.

Let's see if they get it done.

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Colts Shopping WR T.Y. Hilton?

With quarterback Andrew Luck all but lost for the season, the Colts have been facing an uphill battle in 2017.

While Jacoby Brissett has filled in admirably since being traded from the New England Patriots, this Colts team is going nowhere, fast.

But now the team might be trying to trade Brissett's best option.

According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, the 2-6 Colts are willing to trade Hilton.

Florio also noted that Hilton would not want to restructure his current contract and wants to stay with the Colts.

Like the Ebron situation, Colts general manager Chris Ballard was not with the Colts when they brought in Hilton. Florio also speculated that Ballard may want to cash in some assets (like Hilton) for mid-round picks to help rebuild the Colts for when Luck does return.

Any team with a need at wide receiver should look Hilton's way before Johnson—he's been playing and can produce.

Who will net Hilton, if anyone?

Statistics courtesy of NFL.com.