Getty T.J. Hockenson on the field with the Lions in 2021.
The Detroit Lions made the move to ship T.J. Hockenson out of town, and not everybody was a fan of said move.
While there was criticism of the deal from Lions fans and pundits alike in the immediate aftermath, the fact remains that the trade was sound from a football business standpoint in the minds of experts.
One of those experts was ESPN analyst Seth Walder. After the trade deadline played out, Walder took a look at grading the deal for the teams, and while he gave Minnesota a B+, the Lions took home a solid B grade in his mind for the deal.
As for why, Walder admitted that the critique of trading within the division was unfounded, given the Lions aren’t good enough to worry about such things right now and the players they snag with Minnesota’s picks will play against the Vikings for a while and be under contract.
“The Lions know they aren’t contenders, and while Hockenson is a young player who could help them in the future, they also were about to start paying him. It wasn’t a deal they had to make, but gaining draft capital for a rebuilding team is never a bad thing, especially since the Lions will likely be the in QB market but also because cost-controlled young players are often the key to building a championship roster,” Walder said.
As Walder went on to say, any concerns about Detroit’s offense should be alleviated by remembering the team still has two solid wideouts in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
“In the long term, the Lions still have a solid pass-catching foundation with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, who was selected after a draft-day trade with the Vikings in April,” he wrote.
Detroit still does have a good core in place in terms of skill positions, so that’s great news for the team in terms of their offense moving forward. With the draft picks, the Lions should be able to focus on the quarterback spot in addition to fixing the defense.
Without Hockenson, they could still be expected to move the ball more than a bit on offense.
Lions’ Offense Has Options Without Hockenson
With Hockenson now gone, the Lions will have the chance to audition several players before deciding on a course of action before the 2023 offseason.
The first man up may very well be James Mitchell, last year’s fifth-round pick out of Virginia Tech. Mitchell has quality ball skills and is a good pass catcher. The Lions showcased him in Week 8 with an early catch which showed off some of his moves.
James Mitchell szn
Additionally, the team has Brock Wright to rely on, and the former underafted free agent broke out a bit last season. This year, he’s only put up 88 total yards, but could be expected to shoulder a bit more of the load post-Hockenson trade.
The Lions could also look at signing a player in 2023 or drafting one, but the smart money remains on them continuing to get a look at some of the talented young players they already have on the roster.
Why Hockenson Trade Made Sense for Lions
The Lions moved on from Hockenson mostly to help jump-start their rebuild come the 2023 offseason.
Hockenson himself has been a puzzling player. He’s flashed brilliance at times, as in 2020 when he cracked the Pro Bowl or in 2022 when he went for 179 yards and two scores during a game, but he also disappears.
Such inconsistency is not something the Lions were likely to want to spend big on in terms of a contract extension. The team was weighing whether or not to re-sign Hockenson in the coming months, and with this deal, it’s clear they decided not to. It long seemed it could be best for the Lions to cut bait.
Detroit didn’t get a 2023 first-round pick for Hockenson, but they did the next best thing in getting a second and a third in 2023. This move should help them build up their defense in a big way.
With a pair of firsts and a pair of seconds, the Lions now have a measure of control of over the 2023 draft. This is a tantalizing opportunity that Brad Holmes simply couldn’t pass up.
Detroit may have done well to spin off Hockenson, and the grades show that many are fans of the move.