There is no hyperbole here: Tua Tagovaiola’s decision to enter the NFL Draft is the Detroit Lions’ biggest win of the season.
Breaking: Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa will enter the 2020 NFL draft. pic.twitter.com/8MA1mcARLf
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 6, 2020
As soon as the Washington Redskins lost on the final day of the regular season and took the Lions out of the Joe Burrow and Chase Young sweepstakes, it was always a possibility the motor city football squad would trade down from No.3 in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft to acquire more picks.
The Alabama quarterback’s decision to forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft just drove the price up. Even with his hip injury, Tagovailoa is considered the second-best QB in the class behind the aforementioned Burrow.
Quarterback in the NFL is the most important position in all of sports, and while the Lions don’t need one yet, there are teams that do. Tagovailoa is expected to have many interested suitors, and right now the Lions have the power to make a franchise’s dream come true.
Of all the franchises dreaming of a National Championship winning signal-caller who is college football’s all-time leader in passing efficiency rating, there are a couple of obvious trade partners for Detroit.
Topping the list is the Miami Dolphins who are currently running out 37-year old Ryan Fitzpatrick as their quarterback. The Dolphins have the fifth pick in this year’s draft and in their dream scenario, nobody trades in front of them and Tagovailoa falls to them naturally. Unfortunately for Miami, they cannot guarantee what other teams will do, they can, however, guarantee they land there guy if that guy is indeed Tagovailoa.
Not only does Miami hold the fifth pick in this year’s draft, but they also hold pick No. 18 which they acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a deal where they sent away Minkah Fitzpatrick, and have Houston’s first-round pick which is to be determined in the draft order because they’re still in the playoffs. How much would it cost for the Dolphins to move up two spots from No. 5 to No. 3? It’s hard to tell but there is a reference point for it.
In 2017, the Chicago Bears traded up just one spot from No. 3 overall to No. 2 overall to acquire quarterback Mitch Trubisky. In that deal, the Bears had to give up their first-round pick (No. 3 overall), a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and a future third-round pick.
Any deal with the Dolphins would obviously get the Lions No. 5 overall, is it possible they could also poach the late first-round pick from Houston?
In Lions land, the Dolphins are the dream trade partner because they have assets aplenty. Other teams in the mix could be the Los Angeles Chargers (No. 6 overall) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 14 overall). In order for the Lions to consider dropping to Tampa Bay’s spot, they would need a massive haul of future picks.
Nothing is certain about what the Lions will end up doing, the only thing that is certain is that the Lions got a big value boost from a player that will never put on their uniform.
