Detroit Lions: Is Saquon Barkley really worth the cost?

Saquon Barkley is the best running back in the 2018 NFL draft, but would the cost of acquiring his rights hurt the Detroit Lions more than it would help?

The Detroit Lions have need of a skilled running back. They also need some help on the offensive line, the defensive line, linebacker and another corner back would be nice too.

That’s not a tiny list. As a matter of fact, that is a list that will pretty much take up all of the Lions resources to fill this offseason.

So when a friend of mine turned to me the other day and said, ‘you know trading up to get Saquon Barkley would be totally worth it.’ My response was about to be an abrupt disagreement, when he added, ‘just block out the negatives of the cost to get him and think only of the positives of having him in the Lions backfield.’

This request was new territory for me. I cannot help but to examine both sides of any transaction and weigh the positives against the negatives. It was almost like being asked to consciously stop the beating of my heart.

That being said, I entertained his request and through much self-discipline was somehow or another able to suppress this survival instinct of mine. At that point I was able to envision the Lions offense virtually firing on all cylinders.

Opposing defenses dropping back into coverage only to have Barkley gallop into the secondary for a huge gain or those same defenses stacking the box to stop him, only for Matthew Stafford to fake a hand-off then hit (take your pick) Golden Tate or Marvin Jones or Kenny Golladay for a big play down the sidelines.

It would be a matter of picking your poison. Whatever the opposing defense want’s to do doesn’t matter because this offense would have an answer. The Lions would not only be an exciting and explosive offense to watch, but a unit that would be able to win most shoot-outs as well.

The key to that phrase was most shoot-outs.

My survival instincts started kicking in again. Which is a good thing because you can’t live without your heart beating, right? In the NFL the same philosophy goes with making transactions. If you don’t allow the survival instincts to guide you to make good moves, then your franchise suffers and you don’t win.

Sort of like the Lions for the last 60 years.

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Most likely to move up in the draft and be in a position to get Saquon Barkley, the Lions would have to pull a move like the New Orleans Saints in the 1999 draft when they traded away their entire slew of draft picks as well as the first and third picks from the 2000 draft to the Washington Redskins in exchange for the fifth pick in the draft to select University of Texas running back Ricky Williams.

Williams had just ended a stellar college career as well as winning the Heisman trophy. He was considered a bona fide can’t miss star. Therefore Saints head coach Mike Ditka, was only too happy to overpay for the rights to Williams.

While the Saints did make the playoffs in Williams rookie year, he only played two years in New Orleans until he was traded to the Miami Dolphins and Mike Ditka was fired due to the team under-performing.

The reason those Saints weren’t better had to do with the fact that they were not just a star running back away from a title. That trade cost them the opportunity to get other young prospects in the draft to help build the team around and fill in weaknesses.

That would be the same scenario with the Lions if they copied that move to get Barkley.

The 2018 NFL Draft is deep at running back, and while the Lions may not get one that has the superstar potential that Barkley has, they will still be able to use their remaining picks to fill holes on their roster.

Lions general manager Bob Quinn and new head coach Matt Patricia have been understated in their expectations to the press, but I think they know that a well played offseason would give them the opportunity to possibly be next years Philadelphia Eagles.

While a feature back that can carry the load is important, so is improving the front seven on defense. So is finding another corner back, and so is finding help on the offensive line.

Next: Detroit Lions 2018 NFL Draft - 7 round mock

Anything other than Saquon Barkley probably won’t be as good (although stranger things have happened), but the right choice will be good enough to improve the ground game which improves the offense. If the Lions are also able to improve their defense as well and become a stingy unit, then these Lions will finally be in position to make a run.