Once upon a time, the goings in on "war rooms" during the NFL Draft were basically a mystery. Now we see live shots of each team during the draft, and we subsequently see when drafted players were called and general behind the scenes things in the weeks after ward.
Of course, as teams release their behind the scenes draft videos, things related to other teams get revealed. The New York Giants released their behind the scenes draft video on Monday morning.
Early in the video, as general manager Joe Schoen is seen fielding calls as the Giants were getting ready to be on the clock at pick No. 37, he says..."118, 128, and 157?”, meaning picks 118, 128 and 157.
Those three picks were the Lions two fourth-rounders and the first of their two fifth-rounders. So Brad Holmes was trying to trade up from No. 50 to No. 37 for someone, and he willing to give up the picks that eventually yielded linebacker Jimmy Rolder and cornerback Keith Abney to do so.
The trade up in the second round the Lions did end up making was to from No. 50 to No. 44, giving up pick No, 128 to get that done, and they took Michigan edge rusher Derrick Moore with that pick.
While it's clear Moore was well-regarded and coveted in Allen Park, moving up 13 picks to get him would've been quite aggressive. Not to mention unnecessary, at least in hindsight. It also would have been a pretty big overpay regardless of the draft pick value chart that's referenced.
The Lions' big draft trade that wasn't couldn't have been solely for Derrick Moore
After Day 2 of the draft, Holmes made it clear Moore was high on the Lions' draft board entering the day. He also made it clear how they had Moore ranked, among available edge rushers or overall, could've been way different than where other teams had him.
So, again, trading up 13 spots and gutting your remaining 2026 draft capital to get Moore would not have been necessary. And it ultimately, it wasn't.
So who was Holmes targeting with that big proposal to move up?
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Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker went to the Buffalo Bills two picks before the Giants were on the clock at No. 37. Fellow edge rushers R Mason Thomas and Cashius Howell went at picks 40 and 41 respectively, before the Lions made their move up to No. 44 to get Moore.
A pick after the Lions took Moore, the Baltimore Ravens took Missouri edge rusher Zion Young. It's possible Holmes was targeting Young, who was regarded in some places as a potential first-round pick, with that proposal to trade up. But if Young was the target he would've been the pick at No. 44, right?
Holmes may have just been trying to get ahead of what he thought might be a run of edge rushers, and four of the six picks from 40 to 45 were edge rushers. Maybe no specific player was the target of the idea to move up 13 spots, but I think we know better than that when it comes to this Lions' regime.
We can also comfortably say the move up 13 spots wasn't proposed with Moore exclusively in mind, since it would not have been required if he was the sole trade-up target.
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