2. Chiefs OLB/EDGE Josh Uche
Uche was easy to tie to the Lions in last year's free agency, but he wound up going back to the New England Patriots over reported better offers he had out there. He was traded to the Chiefs before the deadline as New England embraced sell-mode, as the Lions perhaps may have been interested as well with Aidan Hutchinson out.
Uche has barely played for Kansas City, with 50 of his 87 snaps coming in their meaningless regular season finale. He has not played in either playoff game up to this point, so it's possible he's not in uniform for the Super Bowl either.
Over seven games with the Patriots this season before he was traded, Uche had a 72.7 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus. That would have been top-30 pass rush grade among edge defenders had he played enough snaps to qualify.
Uche (240 pounds) is a little lighter than the Lions generally favor in edge rushers, and he simply hasn't been used as much more than a pass rusher so far in his career to reveal how he'd be in pass coverage. But he could fit into a SAM linebacker role, he has an 11.5-sack season on his resume (2022), he's still pretty young (26) and after a season where he has hardly seen the field he couldn't be more of a free agent bargain.
1. Chiefs DT Tershawn Wharton
Wharton set career-highs with 6.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss during the regular season this year, and he has followed that with a sack in each of Kansas City's playoff games thus far with six total pressures in the postseason (according to Pro Football Focus).
Wharton is clearly a better pass rusher than run defender based on his PFF grades. He had the 25th-best pass rushing grade among defensive tackles during the regular season (76.1), with the 14th-most pass rush snaps at the position (minimum 125 pass rush snaps) and a 10.4 percent pass rush win rate.
Wharton's lack of length (6-foot-1) has meant he has lined up mostly on the interior of the Chiefs defensive line, but even within that he has lined up at multiple spots. With legit questions about Alim McNeill's status for the start of next season, Wharton should be on the Lions' radar if the price is right.