Detroit Lions 2023 draft picks are now set

With compensatory picks locked in, where the Detroit Lions will have their picks in the 2023 NFL Draft is now confirmed.

The NFL announced 37 compensatory picks for the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday, and we already knew the Detroit Lions would not receive any based on gains and losses in 2022 free agency.

The Lions currently have eight picks in the 2023 draft, including two first-rounders (No. 6 and No. 18), two second-rounders (No. 48 and No. 55) and another in the top-85 (No. 81 overall, third round). In terms of draft capital, they are as well-positioned as any team in the league. The Matthew Stafford and T.J. Hockenson trades brought those extra picks in each of the first two rounds, No. 6 and No. 55 respectively.

The Lions also have an extra sixth-round pick this year, via the Trinity Benson trade with the Denver Broncos. They don’t have a seventh-round pick, having sent it to the Los Angeles Rams for Michael Brockers.

Detroit Lions 2023 draft pick slots now set

Here’s where the Lions have their current picks in the 2023 NFL Draft (h/t to the team website).

Round 1: No. 6, from Los Angeles Rams
Round 1: Pick 18
Round 2: No. 48 overall
Round 2: No. 55, from Minnesota Vikings
Round 3: No. 81
Round 5: No.152
Round 6: No.183, from Denver Broncos
Round 6: No. 194

General manager Brad Holmes could always make trades to add picks between now and late-April. And he showed a willingness to trade up when he did it to get Jameson Williams last year, so  if there’s someone they really like that will be out there as an option.

But having four of the top 60 picks and five of the top 81 is a position many teams wish they were in. Fortune even smiled on the Lions, for once, when the Rams had their terrible Super Bowl hangover season to give them a top-10 pick that was (also for once) not of their own ineptitude.