Lions are desperate to trade down from No. 3

The Lions organization is a mess just hours before the 2020 NFL Draft. They desperately want to move down from the No. 3 overall pick.

There’s a split inside the Detroit Lions organization about who the team should draft with the No. 3 overall pick in Thursdays NFL Draft. That split is causing the franchise to frantically search for a team that will allow them to trade down just hours before the draft begins.

The Lions hope that a team like the Jaguars will fall in love with a prospect and part with a valuable asset to move up a few spots in Round 1. It’s conceivable that a prospect like Tua Tagovailoa, Derrick Brown or Jeff Okudah could tempt a deal to bail Detroit out of their current predicament.

The problem inside The Motor City is that head coach Matt Patricia and General Manager Bob Quinn can’t agree on who the team should pick if they stand pat at No. 3. Patricia wants to draft Brown to solidify his defensive line while Quinn would prefer nabbing Okudah to replace Darius Slay in the team’s secondary.

Needless to say, this isn’t a great time for such a high-profile disagreement. The fact that both men are entering the final year of their respective contracts with the Lions only adds fuel to the battle. With just hours to go before Round 1 begins, it’s entirely unclear over what the Lions will do if they can’t find a way to save face and trade down.

That means it’s in everyone’s best interest to get a deal done. Moving down even a couple of spots in the draft would likely alleviate any pressure of choosing between Brown and Okudah. It’s hard to envision a scenario where both prospects stay on the board very long after the third overall selection.

The key for Detroit will be getting enough back in a deal to convince people they weren’t making a deal out of weakness. The fact that teams know they are suffering from an internal squabble will make it challenging to get a haul in exchange for moving down. The combination of a lesser first round pick and an extra second or third rounder might be enough to convince the Lions to pull the trigger.

This year it’s clear the drama of the NFL Draft starts at three. The Lions are desperately trying to make sure someone else pays the privilege to make that pick.