LOOK: Lions Jim Caldwell downplays the Eric Ebron trade rumors

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Jim Caldwell Carolina Panthers Lions

The NFL trade deadline ended at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and to the dismay of many fans, the Detroit Lions decided not to move their former first-round pick, Eric Ebron. The Ebron trade rumors escalated leading up to the deadline due to the dropped passes and inconsistent play that has riddled his young career. Despite this, Lions fans were hoping there would still be some trade value for the athletic tight end out of North Carolina.

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Surprisingly, these rumors ended up being just that as they appeared to mostly take place outside of the Lions front office. Jim Caldwell dismissed these rumors in Thursday’s press conference.

From The Detroit News:

“We didn’t expect him to go anywhere. Because it’s in the paper, because you guys talk about it, doesn’t make it a fact. OK? So, take that for what it’s worth”

The reserved Caldwell played off the rumors as simply, unwarranted noise. The amount of anticipation and hype surrounding a potential trade makes this hard to believe. Considering Lions GM Bob Quinn spent most of his career in New England with Bill Belichick, who epitomizes the “nobody is untradeable” philosophy, also raises questions. So is Caldwell just playing off the rumors, or are the Lions truly committed to Ebron?

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Trading Ebron made sense for a few reasons. One being that his fellow tight end, Darren Fells, has had a productive season catching 11 of 16 passes for 113 yards and 3 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Ebron has only caught 15 of his 32 targets. Another reason is the fact the Lions drafted tight end Michael Roberts in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. Roberts had a productive senior year at Toledo, catching 45 passes for 533 yards and 16 touchdowns. With capable backups, it seemed now was a good time to try and get some value back for the underperforming Ebron. Afterall, it was only a few years ago he was drafted 10th overall.

Should the Lions have been more aggressive in trying to move Ebron, or do you still believe in his potential?