As the Detroit Lions seem sure to be looking to move him, here are 6 teams who could make a trade offer for D’Andre Swift.
The writing on the wall goes back to early March, when head coach Dan Campbell said this about running back D’Andre Swift.
"We tried to do that last year. We tried to take care of him in camp….We thought we had a recipe going into the year, and it didn’t work out,… We’re going to start all over from scratch again. Let’s find another way to see if we can help him stay on the field, you know? I already know he’s doing that for himself, so we’ve got to do that on our end. What can we do better by him? Can we? Because he’s too talented. He’s too talented to not have out there. He’s an explosive athlete.”"
Campbell was talking about the team’s plan to keep Swift healthy and available, only to watch him not even make it through the season opener without getting banged up. Then he added an ankle injury in Week 3, missed three games had his workload limited in many other games.
The signing of David Montgomery, a more complete back than the departed Jamaal Williams, confirmed Swift is no longer part of any sort of plans for the Lions.
Entering the final year of his rookie contract, remember he was an early second-round pick in 2020, Swift is not getting a contract extension from the Lions. And after the move to draft Jahmyr Gibbs No. 12 overall on Thursday night, it feels like Swift is as good as gone at some point between now and Week 1. But the Lions also quickly gave away any trade leverage they may have even had by taking a running back in the first round.
Sources: The #Lions are receiving trade calls on running back D’Andre Swift, whose representatives have been in contact with the team about potentially moving to a new team. With Detroit drafting Jahmyr Gibbs, the talented Swift appears poised to leave Detroit. pic.twitter.com/Rkf16dylaL
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) April 28, 2023
Day 3 of the draft on Saturday may bring a deal, but it’s obviously not a hard deadline. It’s a bit interesting the Lions enter the day with just two picks now in the final four rounds of the draft now, as a trade for Swift may add one to the docket.
The Lions may be willing to take about anything to remove Swift from their backfield logjam, and that’s what they’re left with taking at this point. But any lingering perception of his upside may bolster the draft pick return, and even if he can’t hold up as a lead back he can add value to someone’s offense.
Here are six teams who could rid the Lions of their D’Andre Swift headache with a trade offer they’d take.