Mike Payton talks about some recent comments from Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes, that indicate the the team made multiple attempts to move up and land a premier edge rusher in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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00:00Call it a hunch, but we think the Detroit Lions tried to trade up for an edge rusher in the first
00:04round, and we think we know who that edge rusher was. Let's talk about it.
00:11Hi, Mike Payton from A to Z Sports Detroit. Today we're going to talk about how it kind of seems
00:15like the Lions tried to trade up for an edge rusher in the first round, and we kind of know
00:19who that guy might be. Let's talk about it. First edge rusher, you know, that's the thing Lions fans
00:23have wanted the most. It's the thing they talk about the most. It's the thing that the media
00:27talks about the most. It's the thing that annoys Brad Holmes more than anything. You could see it
00:32on his face. You could see it in his body language. You could hear it in his words. He's tired of
00:37talking about it. Well, speaking of talking about it, he was asked about edge rushers on day two
00:43after the second and third rounds concluded, and he had this to say. I don't need to get into
00:49specifics, but there were times we made attempts to get one, and they got picked before. You
00:54couldn't get up. It takes two to trade. So there's your first hand. I mean, there's your
01:00example right there. There's your proof that the Lions did attempt to trade up for an edge rusher
01:04at some point in time. Why do we think it was the first round? Well, you look at the top 30 visits
01:10that the Lions had with edge rushers. You get Shamar Stewart from Texas A&M. You got Josiah Stewart
01:15from Michigan and Q Robinson from Alabama. Now, Robinson went on day three. You know, the Lions could have
01:23drafted him at any point, and they didn't. Josiah Stewart, they had multiple chances to do that.
01:29They traded up twice on day two. They just didn't take him. Day one, they didn't attempt to trade up,
01:35and there's Shamar Stewart there. He goes 17th overall to the Bengals. We think they tried to jump
01:41the Bengals to get Shamar Stewart. And the reason why, look, if you look at, obviously, the Browns and the
01:48Jaguars started the draft off with a trade, but until then, there was no other trades.
01:53From the fifth pick on to, I think it was the 22nd pick, there were no trades.
02:01The Lions may have tried, which to me says all those teams wanted to stick and had guys they
02:05wanted to pick, obviously, and didn't want to trade down or risk losing those guys. So the Lions
02:10may have tried to trade up with the Cardinals or teams like that who were above the Bengals in the
02:17draft, and all those teams said no. And the reason we think they tried to trade up over
02:26those guys is because, hey, if you look past 17, there isn't any other edge rushers other than
02:31James Pierce, who gets taken later. The Lions were never going to take that guy. There was some
02:35character issues. It was just, he did not fit the Lions' culture-wise. He's just not the kind of guy
02:43for Detroit. Other than that, like, Shemar Stewart was really the only edge that was taken in the
02:49middle of the first round where the Lions could have traded up, was in their zone to trade up.
02:53They never did it. So I think that's the one that makes the most amount of sense. And then when you
02:59get to 28, there were still some guys left on the board. We know Donovan Ziraku, Nick Scorton,
03:03all those guys were there. The Lions chose to take Tyleek Williams. They had chances at all these other
03:08edge rushers. They didn't take him. Shemar Stewart's the one guy they had in for a visit
03:13that it just makes sense that they tried to trade up for him in a zone where nobody was willing to
03:19trade their picks. Takes two to trade, like you said. That's why we believe that the Lions attempted
03:26to get Shemar Stewart, but they didn't get him. And that's going to be all right. We'll see where
03:30that goes. You know, obviously, he's going to be pretty good for the Bengals, we think. He's,
03:34you know, but I think Ahmad Hassanin is going to be really good for the Lions. I think that was
03:38maybe one of the biggest deals of the draft. And when it comes down to it here in the next few
03:43years, I think you'll all see that. I think this guy, I mean, call me crazy. I think he's a future
03:48pro bowler. I really do. I believe that the work ethic and I believe that the athleticism that he
03:52already has alone could propel him there. We'll see where that goes, but that's what we think.
03:59That's why we are making this video because we think, hey, maybe there's a possibility they tried
04:02to trade up. It's just a hunch. Let us know what you think.