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The Detroit Lions made a major move to trade cornerback Jeff Okudah, and there hasn’t been much reaction from the team about the move in the days since.
Just ahead of the draft, all has been quiet about the team’s latest move, which netted them a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. But Dan Campbell paid a visit to The Rich Eisen Show, and opened up about the team’s most recent bold move this offseason.
Eisen asked Campbell point blank about the trade. Why make the move to deal a player like Okudah at this point of the offseason? As Campbell said, the team made multiple major additions this offseason, and liked what they were able to bring into the mix. That made Okudah, a player who could have needed a change of scenery, expendable in the end.
“We knew we wanted to upgrade the secondary and we’ve been pleased with the upgrades that we’ve made. Bringing in (Cameron) Sutton and (Emmanuel) Moseley and then getting C.J. (Gardner-Johnson) from Philadelphia, we feel like we really beefed up that area and we still got Jerry Jacobs, we got Will Harris back and so we’ve got a group,” Campbell told Eisen. “We just felt pretty good with the additions that we made and we really felt like, at this time, this is probably the best thing for for us and for Jeff. Change of scenery and give him a fresh start.”
Having plenty of new elite players in the mix, the Lions didn’t have the pressure to keep Okudah. As Campbell said, it was not a case of Okudah not meeting the team’s expectations. He did everything that was asked, but the team believes the trade was the right move at this time.
“We felt really good about our guys and I appreciate Jeff. Jeff was a pro. He came to work. He busts his a** man. He worked at it and he was coming off an injury last year and we just felt like this is the right thing to do right now,” Campbell said of the trade.
Okudah is moving on, and the Lions add a draft pick, pushing their total number of picks in this draft to 10. According to the coach, it was simply the right time to make a move at the position this offseason considering everything that had played out.
Jeff Okudah Seemed Encouraged With Falcons Trade
In terms of Okudah, it was clear from the start he was intrigued by a potential trade. Okudah hopped on Twitter, and shared a smirking face emoji on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 11 in reaction to the deal playing out.
Okudah would finish with 73 tackles, one interception, one touchdown, seven passes defended and one forced fumble in 15 games played with 15 starts. Though he was benched at the end of the year, these were far and away the best numbers that Okudah has put up to this point in his career.
Fighting through with shoulder, groin and Achilles injuries, Okudah has struggled to see the field and has only posted 124 tackles and two interceptions in his career. In Atlanta, Okudah will get a chance to be a featured piece on defense along with cornerback A.J. Terrell.
As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press pointed out, Okudah wanted to land in Atlanta, so that could make this a potentially desirable scenery change for the defender when all is said and done.
“The Falcons, fwiw, are the team Jeff Okudah wanted to play for coming out of college. Hopefully the change of scenery treats him well,” Birkett tweeted.
Knowing this, it isn’t a surprise to see Okudah’s strong reaction to the news following the trade playing out, and perhaps he’s happy to be getting a fresh start. The Lions seem happy to provide it to him in a preferred destination.
Lions Offseason Was Tailored to Defensive Backfield
It wasn’t all Okudah’s fault, but the Lions needed to have a near complete change in the backfield this offseason. That was due to how poorly the team played during the 2022 season.
Detroit finished 30th in pass defense, allowing 26 touchdowns and over 245 yards per-game on average. Worse, they allowed a total of 4,179 yards through the air. That points to a group that simply didn’t get much going all season long.
Right or wrong, Okudah was part of that group, which left him expendable. The clock was ticking for the Lions as it related to keeping Okudah on a fifth-year option and eventually, doing a contract extension. Clearly, the Lions were not prepared to keep Okudah long-term. and looked outside the home for the bulk of their additions.
To solve their needs, the Lions added Sutton to the mix at cornerback, who was a starter in Pittsburgh with eight interceptions, in addition to Moseley. A week later, they signed Gardner-Johnson as well, who represented one of the top free agent defensive backs after finishing tied for the league lead in picks for 2022. All three of those players will be immediate upgrades. Detroit might also yet draft a cornerback in a very deep class.
Okudah is moving on, and the Lions as well as Campbell thought it was time for a change of scenery in multiple fronts.
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