We are less than a week away from the NFL draft and Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn sounds like he is ready to trade down and add more picks.
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The Lions currently sit with the least amount of picks in the draft, with six, and Quinn let the Detroit Free Press know that he is willing to make some moves to acquire more.
“I think we’re going to kind of take it as it comes in the first round and see what’s there in the teens and evaluate what our options are,” he said. “I’m always in the business of getting more draft picks, if I can. … I think that’s just good for business. The more you get, the more you hit on.
“So if we can acquire more picks, that would be something I look forward to. If there’s a player I really like at (No. 20 overall), I’m going to have to go ahead and take the pick.”
The possibility of trading down makes sense. Having a total of six picks doesn’t sound that great, but Quinn hasn’t done much movement-wise in the drafts so far as GM with Detroit. He has only traded down once, and that was with his former employer last year. Quinn traded the Lions third-round pick to the New England Patriots and the Lions received their third and fourth-round picks in exchange. I feel the chance of trading once again with his former team the Patriots could be a possibility. With Tom Brady nearing the end, the Patriots should be looking for more options in the early rounds, for that possible replacement for #12.
Detroit has a pick in every round except for the sixth. Quinn would like to get into that round, but if it doesn’t happen he seems content with where Detroit stands right now.
“No, there’s no desperation,” he said. “Would I like to have a sixth-round pick? Absolutely. But we don’t, so we deal with what we have. If we acquire more, great. If not, what we’ll do is get ourselves organized for the seventh round and postdraft.”
The way this offseason has gone so far for the Lions, expect there to be some movement from Quinn. Detroit has added a lot in free agency, but they have gone the quantity over quality route so far. If there isn’t a sure-fire impact type of player that he knows will hit at 20th overall in that first round, I’d suspect Quinn to move back and acquire more picks.
With less than a week to go before the draft and Quinn letting it be known that he is open to moving down in the draft, expect some phone calls coming Detroit’s way.
