With the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions hit a home run (at least we hope) by selecting OT Penei Sewell out of Oregon.
Brad Holmes, Dan Campbell, and everyone else in the Lions draft war room were so thrilled with the pick that they exploded in jubilation the moment they knew Sewell was going to be available at No. 7.
According to Holmes, who recently spoke to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Lions actually turned down a “very solid” trade-down offer to make sure they were going to land Sewell.
…And any possible disconnect there is cleaned up with Holmes’s then having had to consider a very solid offer that had come in for the pick, and was standing as the Lions’ 10 minutes on the clock started to tick down.
“We had to make a choice,” Holmes said. “It was tempting … Credit to everybody else in that draft room to stay patient and say, Hey look, let’s trust it, and let’s just see what happens and resist doing anything. We could’ve been too cute and it actually could’ve affected the rest of the picks and how it fell down.”
If the Lions wanted Sewell that badly, it was very wise for the Lions to pass on trading down (likely to Denver at No. 9) because the Panthers almost certainly would have taken him with the No. 8 pick.
Nation, knowing that the Lions could have obtained more draft capital by trading down, do you think they made the right move by standing strong and taking Sewell instead?
