NFL Draft Rumors: Detroit Lions looking at trading up for Mike Evans
By Josh Hill
The NFL Draft is less than a week away which means it’s time to digest the latest trade rumors when it comes to teams moving up and down the draft for certain players. One team looking to possibly move up is the Detroit Lions but the player they’re being mentioned as wanting to trade up for isn’t the one we’ve been hearing for the better part of a month.
According to ESPN’s John Clayton, the Lions would be willing to trade up a few spots to draft Texas A&M wide receiver Mike Evans if it didn’t cost them too much and the price was right.
This is a interesting bit of news as the Lions trading up for a receiver has been something we’re hearing more and more about but the name Clayton mentions is different from the one that has been being mentioned. Sammy Watkins is unlikely to slide very far down the top 5 though, and that means the Lions would have to trade up even further than they would to draft Evans to get him.
While they’d love Watkins, Evans is a great option and the Lions can’t feel that bad if they get him. Teams will have to trade up for Evans but there’s a chance he slides to the Lions at No. 10 overall. The only problem with trading up for Evans if you’re the Lions is they’d need to move past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 7 overall and the Falcons — who sit a pick ahead of the Bucs — want to trade up and not down. This means calling up the Oakland Raiders at No. 5 who may not want to move back five spots without making the Lions pay handsomely for it.
Still, a wide receiver trio of Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate and Mike Evans is dangerous and my be worth paying a little extra for.