Pride of Detroit
With the NFL trade deadline coming up in just a few weeks (November 4), analysts are starting to ramp up their predictions for the trading frenzy. In fact, we’ve already seen a handful of trades in the lead-up to the deadline.
Like any team, the Detroit Lions could stand to improve their roster as they try to make a Super Bowl run this season. With all of the injuries in the secondary and the perceived lack of a pass rush threat opposite Aidan Hutchinson, it’s no surprise that many analysts are predicting the Lions to make a move somewhere on defense before the trade deadline.
That was certainly the case for ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. In his latest piece, Barnwell proposed 13 different trades, and two of them involve the Detroit Lions. Here’s a look at each proposal and part of his reasoning for each.
Lions get: Edge Trey Hendrickson, 2026 fourth-round pick
Bengals get: 2026 second-round pick
The Lions have one superstar up front in Aidan Hutchinson, but they’ve never really landed that second one. Alim McNeill has been a solid disrupter on the interior, but the defensive tackle is still recovering from a torn ACL and just returned to practice last week. Marcus Davenport is on injured reserve with a chest issue. Al-Quadin Muhammad has 4.5 sacks, but the well-traveled veteran had just 15 sacks in his first seven pro seasons — and 2.5 of his sacks in 2025 were on plays when he was either unblocked or cleaned up as part of a coverage sack. Muhammad is a useful player, but I think the Lions could upgrade across from Hutchinson.
Nothing Barnwell says above is untrue, although it does ignore the fact that Davenport is expected back shortly after Detroit’s Week 8 bye week. And, to be quite honest, those trade terms are more than fair for a talent like Hendrickson, who has 4.0 sacks this season and has posted back-to-back years with 17.5 sacks. He’s also pretty darn good against the run, so he’d be a good fit, and I understand why he keeps getting paired with the Lions.
However, money is the primary issue. Barnwell points to Detroit’s current $25 million in cap space as reason enough to make the move and even mentions the fact the Lions are trying to roll over as much money as possible so they can pay their young players on upcoming extensions (Aidan Hutchinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch, among others), yet doesn’t realize that’s what the Lions are earmarking that cap space for. Acquiring Hendrickson would necessitate taking on a prorated portion of his $16 million salary, which is not a ton, but is still likely more than they’d be willing to pay. And considering the Lions would almost certainly not be able to offer Hendrickson an extension beyond this year, that’s a lot of draft capital and salary cap to eat for a player who will likely only play around seven or eight games...
