The Detroit Lions are already one of the best teams in the NFL, entering Week 7 with a 4-2 record. While Detroit has found its stride, it is coming off a loss, reminding the team there’s more work to be done. The bulk of that work will take place on the field, but the Lions could also improve their roster by making some moves ahead of the November 4 trade deadline.
As the deadline approaches, Detroit has frequently been brought up as a team who should acquire an edge defender. The Lions already have Aidan Hutchinson, who has returned to elite form, but it’d be great to pair him with another elite pass rusher. Bill Barnwell took that idea one step further in a recent ESPN piece, proposing 13 trade deadline ideas. The NFL analyst argued that Detroit should acquire Trey Hendrickson from the Cincinnati Bengals, and Jaelan Phillips from the Miami Dolphins.
Lions land Trey Hendrickson and Jaelan Phillips in ESPN’s latest trade proposals
This would be an ultra aggressive approach, and Barnwell knows that, arguing that the team should do everything it can to prevent a repeat of last postseason, when the defense nearly ran out of players.
"I'm arguing that the Lions should go all-in. This team experienced what it was like to lose Hutchinson and virtually every one of its other ambulatory pass rushers last season. Its secondary is battling injuries. No team has ever made it into January and complained that it had too many pass rushers."Bill Barnwell (ESPN)
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To pull these moves off, the analyst proposed Detroit sends a 2026 second-round pick to Cincinnati for Hendrickson and a 2026 fourth, and a 2026 fourth-round pick to the Dolphins for Phillips and and a 2026 seventh-round pick. That would give the Lions three talented edge defenders, and hopefully a pass rush that could take over games in the postseason.
Hendrickson recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons, leading the league in 2024, and he already has four sacks in six games this year. Phillips, on the other hand, had 22 sacks in his first 42 games, but has been limited by injuries in the last couple of seasons. He is now healthy, but has just one sack in six games on a struggling Dolphins team.
Both Phillips and Hendrickson are in the final year of their deals, and playing on bad teams, so they are perfect trade candidates. If the Lions could somehow land both defenders, it’ll be clear the team is doing everything possible to win it all this season.