Heading into the 2020 regular season, the Detroit Lions have quite a few players who are heading into the final year on their current contract. Some of those players, like Kenny Golladay, Taylor Decker, and Matt Prater will likely sign extensions at some point and be back with the Lions in 2021, while others will become unrestricted free agents.
One of those players, in my opinion, is veteran wide receiver, Marvin Jones Jr.
Jones Jr., who is currently 31, will make $8 million in 2020 and his price tag will likely be too high for the Lions to pay in 2021, especially with Kenny Golladay possibly landing a mega-contract this summer.
Because of this, Jones Jr. is a candidate to be traded by the Lions before the 2020 season ends.
In a piece recently published on Pro Football Focus, Jones Jr. was listed as a veteran who could be traded in 2020.
Here is their rationale:
Jones was another receiver rumored to be a trade target during the 2020 NFL Draft, but nothing ended up transpiring. That should not come as a surprise based on the events of the offseason, but that doesn’t mean the Lions won’t entertain the idea of moving the veteran receiver.
Jones is not likely to be re-signed with the Lions needing to lock up Kenny Golladay long-term. Not to mention, Jones has missed 10 games over the past two seasons. The Lions also added Geronimo Allison on a cheap one-year deal and drafted Quintez Cephus in the fifth round. Cephus is a speculative dynasty add after showing impressive ball skills at Wisconsin; he fell in the draft due to a lackluster athletic profile.
The real winner of a Jones trade would be T.J. Hockenson. He already has plenty of breakout potential heading into the season, but if a large portion of the offense opens up, that would vault Hockenson up the tight end rankings as the no-doubt No. 2 passing option behind Golladay.
Nation, if the Lions are out of playoff contention and decide to trade Jones Jr., how high of a draft pick do you think they could get for him? My guess at the given moment would be a 4th round pick.
