Getty Tremaine Edmunds on the field before a Bills game in 2022.
The Detroit Lions are aiming toward the offseason and free agency, and with plenty of needs across the roster, the team has a chance to do some building for the future.
Most of that building needs to come on the defensive side of the ball for the Lions, and the team already has some fantastic targets coming into focus when they get things going next week.
ESPN recently previewed free agency within a wide-ranging article, and within, they highlighted some of the best fits as the market takes shape. Analyst Matt Bowen seemed to think that a connection with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was in the best interest for the Lions.
As he wrote, the team needs difference makers to improve, and Edmunds is a guy who dominated across the board in 2022 that could offer Detroit the chance at turning things around.
“Detroit needs to add more difference-makers on defense, and I see Edmunds as a prime fit at the second level of the Lions’ system. Edmunds registered 7 pass breakups, 102 tackles, 1 interception and a sack in 2022, and he would be a strong addition to one of the league’s worst defenses last season,” Bowen wrote in the piece.
Early on, many have focused on Detroit’s need for multiple defensive backs, but linebacker is a major hole on the team as well. Adding a player like Edmunds would theoretically shore up the need for a player at that level.
So far, his potential to land in Detroit is already seen as one of the best fits ahead of the start of free agency.
Tremaine Edmunds’ Career Stats & Highlights
Unlike some of the other names the team could chase at linebacker, Edmunds would offer the Lions some youth at the position. He’s not inexperienced, though, even though he is just 25.
After being a first-round pick in 2018, Edmunds has put up some solid numbers in the league. He has 565 combined tackles, 32 tackles for-loss, 6.5 sacks, five interceptions and 35 passes defended. That shows his range as a complete linebacker, and a player who can play both the run and the pass in elite fashion at his position on the field.
As a Pro Bowl player in 2019 and 2020, Edmunds is the kind of player the Lions could lean on to be a big part of their future as a quality investment. Combined with other draft picks, he could go a long way toward changing the defensive narrative in Detroit.
Lions Linebacker Room Needs Upgrade
Why is Edmunds an interesting potential fit for the Lions? The team needs help on defense, and the linebacker spot is looking as bare as some of the other key positions for 2023.
There’s no question the team does have some talent after witnessing the emergence of rookie Malcolm Rodriguez last year. Rodriguez posted an elite rookie season, putting up 87 tackles, one forced fumble, one sack and two passes defended.
Additionally, the Lions want to see Derrick Barnes, a 2021 fourth-round pick, continue to develop. He posted 47 tackles and one sack last season, and looks to build on a decent first two seasons in the league which has seen him post three sacks and 114 tackles.
In spite of this, there are questions about whether free agent Alex Anzalone will return. Beyond that, the team doesn’t have much depth at all, with just Julian Okwara, James Houston and Anthony Pittman left on the depth chart in addition to Rodriguez and Barnes.
The chance exists for someone to come in and stabilize the room, and a player with some upside as well as pedigree playing for a winning team could fit the bill.
Edmunds could see a chance to make a major name for himself with the Lions, and by coming in and taking over for the team at linebacker, he could get it done.