As Tuesday's trade deadline approaches, the Detroit Lions are definitely buyers--at least to the extent they want to be. General manager Brad Holmes is willing to make deadline deals, but it will come down to how aggressive he wants to be.
Most of the deadline buzz around the Lions has focused on the pursuit of an edge rusher or a cornerback. There's a case for other positions, but those are the focus amid some injury and overall depth concerns. Even with last year's bad injury fortune on the defensive side of the ball patently unlikely to ever be repeated, the Lions know the perils of lacking depth.
In her fresh "What I'm Hearing" column for Week 9, of course centered around the trade deadline, Dianna Russini of The Athletic listed the Lions among many teams who have called the Cincinnati Bengals about players like edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, linebacker Logan Wilson and cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt.
The Lions would seem to now be all the way out of the mix to trade for Hendrickson, not that acquiring him has ever been all that realistic. Of the three Bengals' defenders Russini mentioned, Taylor-Britt would make the most sense as a target for Holmes.
New Lions trade deadline buzz invites huge concern
Among some more general, brief trade deadline notes, Russini had this regarding the Lions.
"The Lions are looking for help at safety and defensive line."
The Lions being on the lookout for an edge rusher would fall under the umbrella of "defensive line." But the idea they're looking for help at safety is new.
The Lions secondary was very depleted in Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Kerby Joseph (knee) and Avonte Maddox (hamstring) injured, and Brian Branch serving a one-game suspension. Thomas Harper and Erick Hallett were the starting safeties.
Coming out of the bye week, Branch will of course be available for Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings. Maddox is listed as questionable after being limited in practice all week. Joseph did not practice all week, for the third straight week, and he will miss his second straight game on Sunday.
READ MORE: Vikings’ patchwork offensive line could be a problem against Lions
Before Friday's practice, head coach Dan Campbell confirmed Joseph would not play against the Vikings.
"Yeah, I don’t see Kerby playing this week,” Campbell said. “He’s going to need a little bit here. So, the negative is, yeah, I don’t think he’s going to play. The positive is, he is getting better. He really is. It’s just going to take a minute here. So, that’s kind of where we’re at.”
Joseph has been dealing with a knee issue basically the entire season to this point. He briefly exited two of the last three games he has played due to the injury, and now he's going to miss at least two games.
Maybe Joseph will miss the game against the Vikings, and he'll be good to go after that. Maybe the Lions are (or have been) doing simple due diligence to prepare for a worst-case scenario. But the idea they're in the market for a safety at the trade deadline, enough that Russini would put it out there, brings that worst-case scenario with Joseph more into play than it was before.