From Matthew Stafford to Trevor Lawrence? Detroit Lions trade cost

Detroit Lions draft costs

Back to the cost to the Detroit Lions and the current situation, the six-slot move would exceed the Manning-Rivers deal but the parallels are there. The Jaguars would have to like a quarterback available at pick seven as much as Lawrence (or without much gap) to consider such a move.

Fields is probably a QB2 or QB3 to many clubs and could fall to the Lions, although the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, and Philadelphia Eagles could be interested in drafting a trigger man.

Without delving too far into this wormhole, the Detroit Lions have an experienced signal-caller on the roster who could also be dealt to the cap-happy Jaguars in Jared Goff. They could handle his cap hit, extend him if they like, but he would give Meyer a starter for Day 1 and the Jaguars could treat any rookie as the heir or future trade-bait, ala Jimmy Garoppolo.

If Goff were not part of this deal, where can we get an idea of the approximate value of the draft picks needed to complete the deal? One place to consider is the draft trade value chart, which we found on the Drafttek website, as well.

Essentially, the No. 7 overall is about half of the value of the top pick. The trickiest part in this scenario is judging the value of Detroit’s two first-round picks next year and the year after, the latter of each year being picks acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade.

If we can assume that the Detroit Lions will struggle and probably not pick any lower than they do in 2021, the Lions pick should be worth close to the deficit between this year’s No. 1 and the No. 7 that Jacksonville currently holds.

However, picks No. 7 and a Top-10 in 2022 would likely have to be augmented by another two to three picks on Day Two, or close; the Lions would probably have to part with something like what the Giants gave up in 2004, another third-round pick and likely something higher than the fifth-rounder that New York was forced to give up, like an additional third or fourth pick.

If Goff were included, the cost could be lowered to just a couple of No. 1 picks, too, but the main benefit would be the cap savings to the Detroit Lions, which would not be as big of a deal in Jacksonville. No Goff in Detroit would remove a $27.8 million dollar cap hit.

While Lawrence has many believing that he is a Peyton Manning-type player, that sentiment appears to be waning, at least in the media.

At the end of the day, the Jaguars would have to feel that Fields (or any other passer they liked) would fall to pick seven or that they liked all three of the other big names enough to select any of them once they had the Lions picks to build on in the future.

Perhaps they prefer Mac Jones, the Alabama quarterback, who is sure to fall a bit farther but is a first-round possibility, too. Perhaps they desire to build in the trenches or elsewhere first.

Goff could be appealing from having an immediate starter perspective since you never know what a rookie will develop into. They’d still have a rookie passer if they desire one.

The Detroit Lions would have a quarterback of the future (and present) and still have picks to go after defense as early as round two this year. Next year, they’d still have a later first, and most of their picks, plus cap space to make a few moves in free agency. Would you feel better or worse if Holmes could make this happen?