The Lions are among teams who have called the Bengals about multiple players including Trey Hendrickson
The NFL trade deadline is just days away, and Detroit Lions fans are all curious to see what their team will do or if they will do anything at all.
On Friday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he didn’t believe the Lions would make a move, but that it didn’t mean they wouldn’t. He said GM Brad Holmes has already brought some ideas his way. Maybe it was one of these guys.
The Lions are among the teams that have called the Bengals to ask about the availability of players at the trade deadline
Per Diana Russini of The Athletic, the Lions, along with the Rams, 49ers, Colts, and Eagles, have called the Bengals to ask about edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, linebacker Logan Wilson, and cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. She also said later in that same story that the Lions have been on the lookout for safety and defensive line.
She also notes that some interested teams don’t believe that the Bengals will move any core pieces at this time. That tracks. The Bengals have traded away just one player at the trade deadline in the last 10 years, and that was in 2020 when they sent Carlos Dunlap to the Seahawks. It’s just not something this team ever does.
With that said, teams will likely try hard to pry Hendrickson away from Cincinnati, as its season is uncertain at this point. The going rate is likely to be a second-round pick or higher. Before the season, the reported asking price was a third-round pick and a starting player. This is kind of a meeting in the middle.
The Lions just made Aidan Hutchinson a very rich man, and while they could get Hendrickson for somewhere in the ballpark of $11.5 million down the stretch. The key point is that he had been negotiating with the Bengals all summer about a longer deal, but he didn’t get it.
That doesn’t mean he just stopped wanting it. The Lions aren’t forced to pay him, but they’re giving away a second round pick for a soon to be 31 year old player. Do they want to risk that asset for such a short-term thing? That’s up to them.
Taylor-Britt can’t be ruled out as an option. Brad Holmes and the Lions scouted him and met with him ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft. They might want to take this opportunity to bring him in to steady up their depth at cornerback.
I would not get too excited about any of this. With Campbell saying he didn’t think anything would happen and the Bengals’ legendary stubbornness, it’s hard to see it happen. Still, it’s notable that they called and asked.aa
Browns Could ‘Ruin’ Shedeur Sanders: Mel Kiper Jr.
It was no secret at last April’s NFL draft that ESPN expert Mel Kiper Jr. was incensed about the way the league treated eventual
The free-fall was arguably the worst in the history of the NFL draft, and Kiper repeatedly backed Sanders and denigrated NFL teams for passing on him.
Fast-forward six months and Kiper is still backing Sanders, even as the Browns keep sticking with third-round rookie
Speaking on ESPN’s “First Draft” podcast this week, Kiper said, “Figure out Dillon Gabriel, that was Kevin Stefanski’s guy. Shedeur Sanders, Andrew Berry brought in because he was there in the fifth round, see what happens. … To me, let’s see how it plays out the rest of the year. I hope Shedeur has a chance. Even if he gets in there, he might struggle, does that mean he stinks? Does that mean he was overrated? No.”
Shedeur Sanders Was the Draft’s No. 1 QB One Year Ago
Kiper pointed out that long before Sanders was with the Browns, he starred at Colorado and was ranked by many as the top quarterback coming out in 2025. But he also pointed out that, over time, NFL teams reveal that they aren’t all that smart about drafting and developing quarterbacks.
That, Kiper said (and Browns fans know as well as anybody), is especially true of Cleveland’s NFL contingent.
“I don’t care what the league says,” Kiper said. “The league doesn’t speak about quarterbacks, they don’t know any more than you or I do about quarterbacks, really. Everybody’s clueless about quarterbacks including the National Football League geniuses, OK? They don’t know. Even when they have them, they don’t know. (The Browns) had
“Didn’t nine executives have (Shedeur Sanders) going as the No. 1 quarterback at this same time last year? What happened? Nothing happened on the field. All the sudden, ‘We’re washing our hands of
Browns Quarterback History Is Not Great
Again, when Kiper refers to “organizations” he means the Browns, who picked Baker Mayfield out of Oklahoma with the No. 1 pick in 2018 and went 11-5 with him in 2020. But Cleveland dumped him the following year, and Mayfield has gone on to be a two-time Pro Bowler and now an MVP candidate in Tampa Bay.
“This is the one that has you scratching your head. You had Baker, Baker was winning. Baker almost had you in a Super Bowl. To me, Baker should be in Cleveland. …” Kiper said.
“When Cleveland had Baker Mayfield, they hadn’t had any success, they hadn’t won anything—1999, no consistency at quarterback, 15 times since the AFC North came in 2002, they finished in last place. Fifteen times, last place. One playoff win since 1999.”
