The Detroit Lions might have had the NFL's sack leader last season if Aidan Hutchinson hadn't broken his leg in October.
Hutchinson's absence was a setback from which the team's pass rush never really recovered and it cost the Lions in a major way when it mattered most. The defensive front couldn't put consistent pressure on Jayden Daniels during the divisional round of the playoffs, which allowed the Washington Commanders QB to pick apart a decimated secondary to the tune of 45 points in an upset/blowout.
Detroit attempted to address that glaring hole in its defense by trading with the Cleveland Browns for Za'Darius Smith. And while that didn't work out, a bigger deal for a better Browns defensive end this offseason would not only solidify the Lions' pass rush in the case of Hutchinson-related health complications, it would arguably create the best two-headed edge combo in the entire league.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Former Defensive Player of the Year (2023) and six-time All-Pro Myles Garrett officially requested a trade out of Cleveland on Monday, Feb. 3. Detroit offers Garrett the chance to win he's been seeking, while Garrett offers Detroit a defensive upgrade that could finally put them over the top as the franchise enters Year 3 of its first realistic Super Bowl window since the NFL started playing Super Bowls.
"Adding a veteran like Garrett might come at the expense of taking care of their own. That alone could prevent them from even discussing this," Colton Pouncy of The Athletic wrote Tuesday. "However, Garrett is on the short list of players one could make an exception for and justify it. ... The get-in price is probably two firsts, considering the bidding war that could unfold. In this scenario, the Lions would part ways with their next two first-rounders, their 2025 third-round comp pick and [quarterback Hendon] Hooker for Garrett and a 2026 fourth."
The draft package is higher than the two first-rounder deal that Browns general manager Andrew Berry went on record last week saying Cleveland wouldn't except for Garrett.
Tossing in a third-round compensatory selection that will fall at around pick No. 100 and a quality collegiate quarterback in Hooker who hasn't had a real shot in the NFL yet might be enough to get the deal across the finish line -- even despite the Browns organization doubling down Monday by saying it doesn't intend to deal Garrett under any circumstances.
