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3 players the Lions can poach from other team's practice squads after the NFL trade deadline

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Mike Payton | Last updated Nov 5, 2024 4:05 PM ET

The NFL's trade deadline has come and gone. While the Lions did trade for Za'Darius Smith on Tuesday morning, they did talk about poaching guys from practice squads earlier in the week and that at least signaled some intent to continue to do it this year.

"No. I mean, look, if it’s not, we’re rolling. We got our guys and we’re going and that’s the bottom line. And if something doesn’t get done, we’ll start poaching some of these other practice squads, see if we can find some guys that we really liked when they were coming out that have some ability, see if they can grow, and then we’ll continue to give our guys here on this roster a shot.”

The Lions scored with Smith, but it feels like they could still use one more piece to help them. Here's three guys they can steal from other teams.

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Here's a player that you might recognize since he was in the NFC North for a couple years. Garvin was a seventh-round pick by the Packers in 2020. He played 38 games for them and started one before they released him in July of 2023.

Garvin went and helped the Birmingham Stallions win the UFL Championship last spring before signing with the 49ers.

He had a pretty good summer in San Francisco. He put up a career high 80.6 Pro Football Focus grade along with three pressures, two hurries and a hit in three preseason games.

Garvin is just 25-years-old, so the Lions might look at him as a guy they feel they can get more out of.

This is a guy the Lions have already taken an extended look at this summer when the Lions had joint practices and a preseason game with the Giants.

The former second round pick showed out for the Bills, but the Giants seemingly have no idea what to do with him. He looked good for them in preseason this summer. He had seven pressures and a sack in three games. He's even looked good when they've elevated him.

Honestly I think this is the best move the Lions could make when it comes to poaching. This guy could play immediately.

The former 26th overall pick has bounced around a lot, but he's shown something every place he goes. While he has not quite lived up to that draft status, he's shown that he can be a journeyman role player that can help out. That's something that can help the Lions in the short term.

The interesting thing is that McKinley has been active for the Jets almost every week this season, but now he's on the practice squad. He can absolutely be stolen.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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