Alex Anzalone celebrates a 2021 play against Minnesota.
The Detroit Lions have taken a slow but steady approach to building up their defense, with general manager Brad Holmes inheriting a unit that ranked near the bottom of the NFL and turning them into Super Bowl contenders over the last three seasons.
Linebacker Alex Anzalone has been a big part of that turnaround, starting all 57 games he’s appeared in during his four years with the team. But one outlet suggests that the Lions could be ready to cut ties, listing the 30-year-old as a surprise trade candidate before the season starts.
Alex Anzalone on the Trade Block in Detroit?
Sportrac suggested the Lions could look to trade Anzalone, who is entering the final year of his three-year, $18 million contract. SI.com’s Emmett Matasovsky suggested there could be a case for trading the team’s most trusted linebacker.
“Anzalone is the more unlikely candidate, but there is a case for him to be traded,” Matasovsky wrote. “The linebacker enters the final year of his deal, and is currently the oldest player in the position room. Additionally, the Lions have added Grant Stuard in free agency and re-signed Derrick Barnes to a multi-year extension.”
But Matasovsky added that Anzalone fills a huge role with the team, grading as the team’s best linebacker against the pass and providing a trusted, veteran presence in the locker room.
“When Anzalone missed time with a broken forearm, his presence was missed,” Matasovsky wrote. “In the regular season, every game that saw an opponent with a multi-touchdown passing performance came when the Florida product was out with injury.”
While the team has given no indications that it would consider trading Anzalone, Holmes told reporters this week that he would consider making another big move in the coming week. The team holds the No. 28 overall pick in next Thursday’s NFL draft, but Holmes said they would consider moving up or down the board if the right situation presented itself.
Holmes said the team’s careful roster building over the last few seasons has given them the luxury of looking for the best player available rather than simply filling holes.
“I think the first couple of years, there was probably a little bit more — because of where we were at as a roster — it was like, ‘Man we need this, this, this,’” Holmes said at the pre-draft press conference on April 17, via ESPN. “Like I told you guys at the time, man, we need everything. So, there was not just a position or anything. We just needed really good football players.
“We have a lot of really good football players [now], but I don’t think that where we are now as a roster is going to lessen my desire to want to go get more better football players.”
Holmes added that he hasn’t gotten any calls yet for the team’s first-round draft pick, but he’d be more than willing to pick up the phone if another team was interested.
“We’re not going to reach on players just to fill a position. That’s what we don’t do,” Holmes said. “But it’s like you said, [the media is] always trying to figure out what we’re going to do.”
When pressed on what he might do, Holmes responded with a simple directive.
“Get your popcorn ready and enjoy it,” he said.
