With a 3-1 record and a two-game winning run, the Detroit Lions are fine for second place in the NFC North heading into their Week 5 bye. Dan Campbell’s team can yet become better, though. Despite leading the NFL in sacks (6.5) after four games, top defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is the only pass rusher from Detroit with more than 1.5 sacks this year.
In terms of average yards allowed per game (349.0) and passing yards allowed per game (258.3), the Lions defense is ranked 30th and 22nd, respectively, in the NFL. Bleacher Report listed disgruntled New York Jets pass rusher Haason Reddick as a player Detroit should “add now” via trade to remedy its defensive deficiencies in its Week 5 “NFL Team Needs” roundup.
“Marcus Davenport is out for the season, which is a crushing injury for the Lions since he was supposed to be the defense’s second edge defender and take some of the pressure off Aidan Hutchinson,” the scouting staff at B/R said. “That leaves the cupboard pretty bare, so the front office should see if it can swing a deal with the Jets.”After being traded by the Philadelphia Eagles in March, Reddick, 30, is presently in the middle of a contract holdout with the Jets. He has not yet appeared in a game for the organization. With a base salary of $14.2 million this season, the two-time Pro Bowler inked a three-year, $45 million contract with the Eagles in 2022. Detroit presently has the third-most salary cap room ($40 million) in the NFL, which gives them plenty of options to sign Reddick. Although Davenport is only signed for a single season, Reddick is seeking a contract extension before playing, so Detroit will still need to fill the position during the offseason, according to B/R. This might be a case of “two birds, one stone,” where the company concurrently fills
Over his last four seasons, Reddick has recorded at least 11.0 sacks. Only Hutchinson (11.5 last season) has recorded 11.0 sacks or more for the Lions in a single season during that same time frame.
