NFL rumors: Potential Lions trade targets taken off the table

Just when we thought the Los Angeles Chargers were having a Tobias Funke fire sale, the Bolts got both of their star pass-rushers to agree to contract restructurings. Heading into the new league year, the Chargers were in by far and away the worst position when it came to the NFL's hard salary cap. Guys like Keenan Allen, Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack and Mike Williams were all on the books for so much.

Well, new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz released Williams at the start of the year. He also got Mack to agree to his restructure on Wednesday. Not to be outdone, he was able to get Mack to agree to a contract restructure as well on Thursday. This means neither Pro Bowl pass-rusher will be hitting free agency, or even be up for a trade. Either veteran would have been massive for the Detroit Lions.

While the Lions can still pursue a pass-rusher in the second or even third wave of NFL free agency, it might serve them now to do what they did to acquire Aidan Hutchinson out of Michigan by way of the NFL Draft. The only problem with that is the Lions have one of the worst picks in the first round. Keep in mind that Hutchinson was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Lions two years ago.

The fact that Bosa and Mack look so good in light blue jerseys has to make Lions fans feel terrible.

Brad Holmes is a fantastic general manager, so we should expect for him to do something about this.

Detroit Lions miss out on two Los Angeles Chargers star pass-rushers

Admittedly, it is not their fault. This not been a very deep free agency pool for pass-rushing talent. The good news is the Lions have a great one in Hutchinson still on his rookie contract. While we must credit Hortiz for getting his players to help move some money around, it is a reminder to the shortcomings of how his predecessor Tom Telesco went about building his teams when he was there.

Like Holmes, Telesco would draft fantastically well. Although Holmes is still very green into his tenure as the Lions general manager, Telesco would often pay a premium to retain the players he drafted, or worse, spend a fortune on somebody else's retreads in free agency. For my money, I trust Holmes much more to build and sustain a winner than I ever did when Telesco was in charge of the Chargers.

Right now, I think the Lions need to turn their attention to the NFL Draft to rectify this glaring need of a pass-rusher. Whether that special player is Chop Robinson or somebody else entirely, that remains to be seen. The only real downside with Bosa and Mack sticking with the Chargers from the Lions' perspective was the hope either could become available for Detroit. It is the hope that kills you...

While we should trust Holmes to do what is right for this team, he still needs to address a major issue.