4. Jadeveon Clowney, Carolina Panthers
To put it plainly, the soon-to-be 32-year old Clowney is not a fit with the timeline of the situation in Carolina as he enters the final year of a two-year deal. He dropped from 9.5 sacks in 2023 to 5.5 this past season, as his overall pass rushing numbers fell off over three fewer games, but his pass rushing grade from Pro Football Focus (73.2) was still top-30 among edge rushers as he continued to be a solid run defender.
Just $2 million of Clowney's $8.525 million salary for 2025 is fully guaranteed (according to Over The Cap), and he has compensation tied up in workout bonus ($200,000) and a $1.275 million per game roster bonus. Trading him would clear a notable amount of cap space for the Panthers, and an acquiring team could probably get him for a Day 3 draft pick.
It's easy to see Clowney's name and declare him an underachiever after all the hype that followed him as the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft. But he's actually had a pretty solid (if somewhat well-traveled) career, with Pro Football Reference offering comps like Willie McGinest, Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul and Leonard Little). The Panthers would most likely trade him to a contender, and shy of a reunion with the Ravens the Lions would be a nice fit.
3. Cameron Jordan, New Orleans Saints
Jordan's peak is inching further and further away with each passing year, and he played a career-low 565 defensive snaps at 35 years old this past season (48 percent share of the Saints' defensive snaps). But he has still only missed two games in 14 seasons, and 2024 was the first time since 2014 he was not graded out by PFF as a top-50 edge rusher overall.
With Kay Adams on "Up And Adams" during Super Bowl week, Jordan made it clear he is not looking to be traded.
"I’m not asking for a trade from anywhere. I’m black and gold forever", Jordan said.
Jordan has one year left on his contract, before four void years the Saints used to seemingly extend the pain of his signing bonus proration as long as humanly possible. The remaining $11 million of his $12.5 million 2025 base salary becomes fully guaranteed on March 15 (according to Over The Cap), which then makes a trade more palatable for the Saints as a post-June 1 move.
The one thing Jordan does not have on his resume is a Super Bowl ring. While his "black and gold forever" stance is admirable, he has to realize he's not going to get a ring in New Orleans. One notable past coaching tie that existed in Detroit is of course no longer there (Aaron Glenn), but Dan Campbell is still around and new offensive coordinator John Morton was on Sean Payton's staff in New Orleans for two years (2015 and 2016).
Jordan is definitely more name than actual game at this point. But he's a veteran leader who would be a great culture fit with the Lions, and that has as much (if not more) value as whatever he can still bring to the table on the field.
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