Lions trade for a pass rusher, nab Everson Griffen from Cowboys
The Detroit Lions find themselves a pass rusher deep in the heart of Texas
After losing three of their first four games, the Detroit Lions have rallied following their bye week to rattle off two straight victories and evening their once lopsided record to 3-3. With the NFL trade deadline nearing, the Lions were expected to be buyers to help improve their roster. And they did just that on Tuesday.
The Lions sent a conditional sixth-round selection in 2021 to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for defensive end Everson Griffen according to several reports. Griffen is a four-time Pro Bowler who spent his first decade in the NFL with NFC North foes, the Minnesota Vikings. So Detroit knows him very well.
Griffen signed a one-year, $6 million deal to join the Cowboys this season. Through seven games, the 32-year old posted 20 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. Last year, Griffen racked up 8.0 sacks as a 15-game starter for the Vikings. In Dallas, he was used as a rotational rusher who didn’t start a single game for them.
Now that Griffen is set to join the Lions, Detroit will have to pay his $1.76 million salary plus $187,500 for each game he’s active according to Pro Football Talk. That’s a relatively small price to pay for a player once considered a premier pass rusher.
The trade for Griffen helps to address one of the Lions’ biggest needs. Through six games, Detroit has recorded a total of only 8.0 sacks. That’s the fifth-lowest amount in the NFL this season.
Everson Griffen might not be the same guy he once was (he's not), but he still has 18 pressures this season. That's more than any Lions player not named Romeo Okwara.
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) October 27, 2020
Hard to see how he's not going to make this pass rush better.
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Defensive end Romeo Okwara leads the Detroit Lions with 4.0 sacks so far this season. The Lions’ sack leader back in 2018, Okwara has racked up that entire sack total over the past four games. Defensive end Trey Flowers has recorded two sacks, with linebacker Jamie Collins Sr. and Reggie Ragland registering one apiece.
Everson Griffen is expected to make his Detroit Lions’ debut against his old team, the Minnesota Vikings, in Week Nine, Sunday, Nov. 8 at U.S. Bank Stadium.