While certainly not their biggest need to address this offseason, the Detroit Lions do need to make some moves at the wide receiver position in 2025.
The Lions signed Tim Patrick and Allen Robinson to provide some depth in 2024, but both players are set to hit the open market and Robinson is currently mulling retirement.
Patrick is really the one to keep an eye on, though, after he served as the No. 3 wide receiver last season behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. Patrick was quite effective in the role and would leave a sizeable hole in the receivers room if he moves on in free agency.
With the possibility that Patrick departs, TWSN’s Marissa Myers names the Lions as a possible landing spot for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver and pending free agent, Marquise Brown.
“With a tough loss to the Washington Commanders in the playoffs, and then losing both their offensive and defensive coordinators, Detroit is in a peculiar position for 2025,” Myers wrote. “Jared Goff is aging, but they tied themselves to him with a contract extension last offseason. With that, while they have Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams at the receiver position, getting a third receiver like Brown would give Goff a third viable option to go to in crucial moments. Brown wouldn’t take away from the growth of either receiver, but would still see the targets to be an impact.”
Brown, who is projected for a two-year, $15.9 million deal by Spotrac, was signed as a free agent by the Chiefs in 2024, but the move didn’t exactly pan out. Brown played in just two games during the regular season due to injury and was quiet in the playoffs, reeling in just five catches for 50 yards. As a result of all that, it’s quite possible Kansas City lets him walk in free agency.
The problem with this scenario for the Lions is that they may be hesitant to depend on a player who has missed 23 games the past three seasons after the team was ravaged by injuries in 2024.
Furthermore, Brown will likely be looking for a bigger role than what the Lions can offer him. After all, he’d be fourth or fifth in the pecking order in the passing game behind St. Brown, Williams, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs, all of whom finished with more receiving yards than Patrick last season.
We just don’t see a Brown-Lions pairing happening. It’s far more likely the Lions will re-sign Patrick or aim for another receiver who better fits the mold of the depth piece Detroit needs.
