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The Detroit Lions seem pretty set in the pass catching department right now.
They had a pair of 1000-yard receivers last season in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. They also have one of the league's best tight ends in Sam LaPorta and one of the top receiving backs in Jahmyr Gibbs.
Despite all of the talent available to them, it seems there is interest in adding to their group pass catchers.
Head coach Dan Campbell recently said that he wants to bring in some younger competition for the receiving room.
A new mock draft predicted the Lions will take care of that in the first round of the upcoming draft.
In the latest mock draft for Athlon Sports, Luke Easterling and Doug Farrar predicted the Lions would spend their first-round pick on Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
A wide receiver in round one seems very unlikely for the Lions. With St. Brown on the roster and Williams likely under contract for two more years, it's just too steep of an investment in your WR3.
The Lions specifically drafting Egbuka seems even less likely.
It has nothing to do with his talent. Egbuka topped 1000 yards twice in college despite facing some of the toughest target competition you'll ever see at the college level.
He also ended All-Big Ten honors on three separate occasions.
The problem that makes him especially unlikely to be the Lions' first pick in this draft is that he's a slot receiver.
St. Brown isn't the "slot merchant" that George Pickens claimed he is, but he still plays plenty of snaps out of the slot. It was where he lined up for 43.5% of his snaps in 2024 according to Player Profiler.
It would be difficult to justify spending a first rounder on a player whose impact will be limited that much by the team's best pass catcher.
If the Lions want a receiver, they should wait for one, especially if Egbuka is the best option on the board at pick 28.
More must-reads:
- Dolphins OLBs coach Ryan Crow arrested on domestic battery charge
- Micah Parsons trade winners, losers: Packers fleece Cowboys for All-Pro
- The 'Most 1,000-rushing yard NFL seasons' quiz
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Micah Parsons Can Put Packers Over the Top
If there is one clear takeaway from the Packers‘ blockbuster trade to acquire Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys, it is that Green Bay believes the All-Pro edge rusher is the missing piece. This is a roster built around a 26-year-old ascending quarterback who just over the course of two offseasons has added former rushing champion Josh Jacobs at running back and a potentially elite rookie wide receiver in Matthew Golden to his supporting cast. Signing Xavier McKinney helped turn the safety into an All-Pro in 2024, and sparked a renaissance in coordinator Jeff Hafley’s first season calling the Packers’ defense, but nothing moves the needle or raises the ceiling for Green Bay quite like dropping Parsons into the front seven. How Micah Parsons Elevates Packers’ Defense Packers head coach Matt LaFleur previously lamented not having an edge rusher disruptive enough to create the kind of havoc necessary to take the next step. “We’ve done a better job just with a lot of our games up front, just being a little bit tighter, not allowing loose pockets where a quarterback can get loose and carve you up with his legs,” LaFleur said recently, via ESPN. “Condensing the pocket, there’s nothing that quarterbacks hate more. It’s not comfortable for them when that pocket starts to get engulfed around them, and I think our guys have done a really nice job of understanding just how to keep that rush lane integrity.” Parsons, opposite Rashan Gary, and with ascending star Edgerrin Cooper at linebacker has the potential to be transformative for the Packers’ defense. Just how transformative? ESPN Stats and Information points out that the Packers finished 22nd in pressuring the quarterback last season, and according to Pro Football Focus, Parsons logged 70 total pressures, fifth-most in the NFL. “I’d expect the Packers to use Micah the same way Dallas did,” an NFL scout told me shortly after the trade. “But, Jeff Hafley may use him in space, too. He’s mainly going to be a pass rusher there.” If Parsons is as advertised, and the rest of the young talent around him on Green Bay’s defense continues to make strides, the Packers are going to be among the more complete teams and tougher outs in the NFL.
Micah Parsons trade: Stephen A. Smith claims move by Jerry Jones will ‘taint whatever legacy he hoped to have’
Jerry Jones is receiving all kinds of criticism this morning for doing the deal yesterday that has sent Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. It’s so much so that Stephen A. Smith thinks this will go on Jones’ resume. Smith reacted to Dallas trading Parsons to the Packers to start on ‘First Take’ on Friday. He discussed what a mess this was for the Cowboys, especially for Jones as Stephen A. thinks he let this get personal. “This is what it is,” said Smith. “This is a disaster for Jerry Jones. This is a bad, bad situation, and I think this is something that’s going to taint whatever legacy he hoped to have because this is not a football decision. You can slice it any way you want to.” “The reason why this is kind of something that’s going to taint Jerry Jones is because, in the end, we’re all looking at it and we know this is not purely a football decision,” Smith said. “This was clearly not for football reasons. This was because you thought you had a handshake agreement with a young man, that was basically pleading with you to talk to my representation, and you ignored him.” That personal aspect of this then affected the business side of it, as Smith just sees this as a bad deal. For one, Dallas didn’t get enough in return for Parsons, as is almost a consensus opinion coming out of the trade, and simply could’ve gotten more had they made him more publicly available earlier. Then, for two, the Cowboys traded him to none other than the Packers, which only makes it that much worse considering the quality of franchise they’ve been in Green Bay. “Micah Parsons is a superstar-caliber player in the National Football League. You traded him for two late first-round picks. That’s late. The Green Bay Packers haven’t had a Top-10 pick since 2009. They’re usually in contention. This is going to be a low first-round pick. You made them younger. You made them better defensively, okay,” said Smith. “They’re within the NFC. You know what, if you’re going to trade Micah Parsons? Trade him out of the conference, or trade him to somebody like New Orleans or somebody like that. You don’t trade him to a Green Bay Packers team, who, by the way, was the last team to whip your ass in the playoffs. When you were last in the playoffs, the people that busted your tail was the Green Bay Packers.” “Two first-round picks and Kenny Clark, the defensive tackle, who had a down year last year, does not equate to a superstar, at age 26, that is Micah Parsons. It doesn’t equate to that,” Smith continued. “If you had made this deal in March, and opened the floodgates to everybody, then there’s no question that you would have had a better deal offered to you than the deal that you just agreed to.” “You could’ve done this in March, okay,” said Smith. “So, when you trade, and you get two first-round picks? You might’ve been able to get three, and they might’ve been able to be three better first-round picks had you done it earlier and opened the floodgates because competition might’ve compelled somebody else to be willing to give up more collateral, as opposed to it being right now.” The fact of the matter is this deal is done, with Jones not budging on signing Parsons and instead sending him away to Green Bay. That’s something that he and the franchise will have to deal with moving forward, especially since it was seemingly done with football not being the main purpose of the trade. “All of these things that you take into consideration, for Jerry Jones to make this move? I mean, for me personally, it doesn’t bother me. This is going to give me more stuff to laugh about. But, on this particular morning, I don’t like to see Jerry put himself in this kind of position,” said Smith. “It looks very, very bad. This is not a good day for the Dallas Cowboys, at all.” “It’s not that he’s gone. It’s what you got for him in return. But, most importantly, it’s why he’s gone because, if you’re Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, you knew what this situation was financially, cap-wise and beyond months ago, last year. You knew it then, but you wanted to keep him because you don’t let stars walk out the door if you’re Jerry Jones. But then, suddenly, you do. Why? It comes back to the why,” Smith said. “He’s taking it personally…This was different. It wasn’t just football.”
Chicago Bears face a harsh reality thanks to the Micah Parsons-Packers trade but the bright side is it's not permanent
The Chicago Bears, along with the rest of the NFC North, received some unwanted news Thursday night when the Green Bay Packers officially pulled off a trade for Micah Parsons. The all-world pass rusher is now a cheesehead through the 2029 season and will certainly be on the minds of the Bears and their divisional counterparts moving forward. The move sent ripples throughout the NFCN and the conference as a whole. For the Bears, specifically, it reminded them of a harsh reality: They're still a step away from becoming a playoff contender and the expectations for 2025 should simply be about progress before anything else. Bears have a ways to go before competing in the NFC North With all the additions made this offseason in Chicago, expectations undoubtedly rose to an even higher level, a dangerous game the Bears are used to playing. After this trade by the Packers, it’s clear the Bears still have a long way to go before being able to truly compete for an NFC North title. Now, let me be clear, it won’t take too much time to get to that level with a strong foundation in place. The future is very bright for the Bears and this team could easily be in a spot, next year, where playoffs are a realistic expectation. But when it comes to 2025, expectations should be lessened after seeing this move. Detroit, Minnesota, and Green Bay are primed to make some noise and a deep run in the NFC. Chicago still has a lot to prove to get out of the division basement. Caleb Williams has to prove he's the franchise quarterback the Bears believe him to be. The offensive line has to show it's not just improved on paper, but on the field, too. Allen faces the questions of re-proving himself as a defensive coordinator after several years of being a head coach. If he can pick up where he left off as a DC then the Bears have the talent of defense to be one of the NFL's best units. We still have to see that come to fruition, however, and we don't know if it will just yet. At the same time, Chicago has early measuring stick games in the first two weeks against Minnesota and Detroit to determine if the revamped team can hang with the top dogs. While a lot can change over the course of an NFL season, those two contests will say a lot about the state of the Bears and the direction they're headed. As for the matchups against Green Bay, the Bears won’t face its bitter rival and the team’s new weapon until Week 14, giving Chicago plenty of time to prepare. So, while the Bears still have a lot to prove, the key part is 2025 will give them all kinds of opportunities to do just that - answer questions. Packers trade for Micah Parsons overshadows all progress the Bears have made in the NFC North arms race The Chicago Bears have been the talk of the town in the NFC North the past few months and earned the title of “Offseason Champs” in the NFL once again. It’s a faux award fans are tired of hearing in Chicago - because the only thing that matters are results on the field. Even still, the progress the Bears made in the NFC North arms race this offseason has been impressive. By adding head coach Ben Johnson, the Bears locker room culture and offense took a complete 180 degree turn. On defense, Allen’s presence and new additions created a whole new aggressive mindset. But even with all the moves, the Parsons-to-Packers trade overshadows them all. It's simply because we're talking about one of the best players in the game who is still in his prime, regardless of position, and he just so happens to play one of the most important positions. Parsons is a true game-wrecker and his presence can take a bad defense and immediately make it a good one. That's how special he is. There's still plenty of reason for optimism in 2025 and beyond No one is saying this should take any excitement away from the Bears' current direction. The good news is if things go according to plan, they'll be right in the playoff mix in 2026. It's not a permanent or even short-term status, whatsoever. The arrow is pointing up in Chicago, but unfortunately it's even higher in Green Bay after the Parsons trade.
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