The Detroit Lions entered into the 2025 offseason looking to bolster a roster that saw a massively disappointing finish to a 2024 campaign that was supposed to end in a Super Bowl victory. But, so far, the Lions have been pretty quiet.
The addition of cornerback D.J. Reed was a good one, especially with Carlton Davis leaving for the New England Patriots, and re-signing Derrick Barnes to a long-term deal and adding a depth piece along the defensive line in Roy Lopez were strong moves, also.
The biggest problem is the Lions haven’t done anything to address their need along the edge, which is their most glaring weakness. In fact, all the Lions have done is subtract. Detroit decided to cut Za’Darius Smith loose and re-signed Marcus Davenport, who is just an injury-prone depth piece at this point.
After seeing what has transpired over the first two days of the legal tampering period, Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer isn’t pleased with what he’s witnessed from general manager Brad Holmes. He thinks the Lions are among the losers thus far.
“The Lions did score cornerback D.J. Reed, but it’s less effective given the team also couldn’t keep cornerback Carlton Davis,” he wrote. “Detroit also has been limited in trying to get pass-rush help for the edge or inside.”
The Lions aren’t the only NFC North team Iyer is down on right now. The analyst also thinks the Green Bay Packers have left a lot to be desired, but for a different reason.
“The Packers may have spent too much on the combination of guard Aaron Banks and cornerback Nate Hobbs without getting all that much better,” Iyer wrote.
While we agree with Iyer about the overpays with Banks and Hobbs, at least the Packers are being aggressive in addressing their needs. The Lions, meanwhile, are watching some good edge rushers come off the board without so much as a peep.
At this point, we can only hope Holmes has something major up his sleeve, like a trade for Cincinnati Bengals star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, for example.
However, as more time passes, the less likely it becomes that the Lions will be able to add the true impact edge rusher opposite Aidan Hutchinson that they need.
