The Detroit Lions opted to part ways with safety Quandre Diggs, swapping Day Three picks in a very strange move by general manager Bob Quinn.
With the Detroit Lions placing their starting running back, Kerryon Johnson, on Injured Reserve Tuesday following knee surgery, you’d figure Motown’s front office would preparing to make a move or two to help secure that position. Instead, the Lions have opted to trade away one of it’s youngest defensive stars for pennies on the dollar.
In what is likely to be seen as the most head-scratching move of general manager Bob Quinn’s four-year tenure so far, the Lions have traded safety Quandre Diggs and a seventh-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft to the Seattle Seahawks for a fifth-round selection in 2020. This news was first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
A sixth-round selection out of Texas in 2015, Diggs was a hidden gem from the draft class prior to Quinn’s arrival. After starting just four games as a rookie, the undersized Diggs (5-9, 197) slowly started to gain more opportunities. He was a full-16 game starter last year, racking up 78 total tackles, eight pass defends, three interceptions, and one defensive touchdown.
Diggs started in five of the Lions’ six games so far this season, recording 20 combined tackles, no pass defends, and no picks. Detroit has also drafted a safety with each of their third-round selections the past two seasons, Tracy Walker and Will Harris. And their ascension is certainly a catalyst for this move.
The trade was also likely motivated by money. Diggs is under contract through 2021. According to Spotrac.com, he is scheduled to make over $10.5 million combined the next two years. Although that’s not a massive price tag for a starting NFL safety, if you honestly believe you have someone better sitting on the bench, it can be an issue.
The trade of SS Quandre Diggs to the #Seahawks cleared $1.6M of cap space for the #Lions in 2019, $3.4M in 2020, & $7.34M in 2021.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) October 22, 2019
Still, trading a starting safety like Quandre Diggs, who is only 26-years old, for a fifth-round selection feels like Detroit got swindled here. The Seahawks get themselves an ascending player with starting experience whose coming off a career year. While the Lions lose a starting defender who is beloved in the locker room after just sending their starting running back to IR all while attempting to climb out of the NFC North basement with a 2-3-1 record.