Veteran defender named Detroit Lions top trade candidate

As the NFL trade deadline nears, a veteran defensive player has been named the Detroit Lions top trade candidate.

At 1-4 and in the second year of a roster build, the Detroit Lions will be sellers more than buyers as the Nov. 1 trade deadline approaches. But the question will be who they could trade, and what they could even get in return that might be noteworthy.

Older veterans with little or no contract term remaining on the Lions’ roster could be of interest to contending teams. With a very young roster, that narrows the pool of potential trade candidates to depart Detroit in the next few weeks.

Dallas Robinson of Pro Football Network has offered one trade candidate for each NFL team. The Lions proverbial top trade candidate is not surprising.

Top Detroit Lions’ trade candidate is clear

Here’s who Robinson had as his trade candidate for Detroit.

"Detroit Lions | DT Michael BrockersLosers of their last three, the Lions still appear to be at least one year away from competing in the NFC. Their defensive struggles may cause them to hold onto a veteran like Brockers for fear of things becoming completely unraveled. Still, Detroit’s front office is smart enough to know the 31-year-old is more valuable as a trade chip than as a run-stuffer on a poor defense."

Brockers has made little or no impact on the Lions’ defense again this season, so far, with zero sacks, four total tackles and one quarterback hit. He also only played 11 snaps in Week 5 against the New England Patriots, without a known injury.

This is certainly not the first time talk of the Lions trading Brockers has surfaced, here or elsewhere. He is plain and simply a poor fit for the overall plan in Detroit, and he is more name than actual game now. Who knew that no longer working next to Aaron Donald would have a negative impact on someone’s level of play?

According to Over The Cap, after restructuring his contract in September, the Lions would clear $3 million in cap space for this year by trading Brockers, with $3.975 million in dead money. Next year, the final year of his contract, they’d gain $10 million in cap space ($3.975 million in dead money after the restructure).

A late-round pick, perhaps conditional even, should be enough for another team to get Brockers from the Lions. Will a contending team even want to give that up for him though?