2010 NFL Draft: Detriot Lions Shopping Second Overall Pick

In a story being reported this morning the Detroit Lions are shopping the second overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.  From both a football and economic standpoint the Lions would be wise to trade down, acquiring more later round picks, as opposed to taking the financial risk of signing the second overall pick to a contract he may not end up justifying. 

In Detroit's tough economy it could literally break that team if they signed what, three top-two picks in the past four years? Including the upcoming draft they'd have had a top two pick three times in last four years (see their draft history here ) and were unable to translate that spending into on field success.

With their past three selections being a QB, WR, and OT it makes a lot of football sense that they try to fill the rest of their team in with talent around those important positions (it should be noted Cherillus isn't exactly an All-Pro, but Stafford to Johnson should be great for years to come). 

If they're able to find a team interested enough in one of the top defensive players available in this draft (perhaps S Eric Berry , or one of the top two DTs available in the draft, Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy ) they may be able to stockpile enough picks to add three or four quality young players to their roster.

This story goes hand in hand with my earlier post discussing the possibility of Kansas City shopping 2008 fifth overall pick Glenn Dorsey .  Although they may be looking to move even further back then Kansas City is, Kansas knows the interest Detroit has in Dorsey, and would likely salivate at the thought of adding a guy like Suh or McCoy to a line already containing last year's third overall pick Tyson Jackson . 

I bet if Suh is still on the board and no deal has gone down Kansas City GM Scott Pioli at least gives the move some thought.  If Suh ends up being a Warren Sapp type DT like many think he will be, not making such a move would look utterly foolish in hindsight for years to come.

Yet with all of this, last year we saw Kansas City make an offer to the Lions that was quickly turned down.  The offer would have landed the Lions in the third draft spot, with only one pick between Stafford and what could have been their second overall pick. 

That pick turned into Tyson Jackson when it remained with the Chiefs, but for a second let's imagine a Lions team with two of the top five worthy draft prospects from last year...on the offense Stafford/Crabtree/Johnson...or maybe they'd have gone defense with Jackson, Raji, or Curry, but I digress. 

The point is, the opportunity to make such a drastic change to a team that went 0-16 the year before might have seemed attractive to some, but perhaps a combination of needing more picks and more depth along with a lack of willingness to take on another big contract led Detroit to turn that opportunity down.  Just shows where their head is at and what their mindset might be as they enter the 2010 NFL Draft with the second overall pick.