Do you hear that?
It's quiet.
The Detroit Lions are trudging through training camp following a bit of a tumultuous offseason that included the release of Terrion Arnold as well as a trade that shipped David Montgomery off to the Houston Texans. They're putting their noses down, working hard, and seemingly improving everyday where they needed to following a 9-8 finish in 2025.
So, naturally, it's the perfect time for pundits to bring the Lions into some of the more absurd scenarios you can think of ahead of this season kicking off - namely, ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum felt compelled to demand that the Lions make a big trade for Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby because...reasons.
"You have a quarterback who's a lot closer to the end than the beginning. And, earlier in the show, Dan Graziano reported from Vegas, and Maxx Crosby's practicing. To me, this is a no brainer. You're in a win-now mode with pressure, go give up two 2nd round picks if you're the Detroit Lions, and go get Maxx Crosby. Kerby Joseph isn't healthy, Brian Branch isn't healthy, understandably they cut Terrion Arnold. You wanna cover up some questions in the secondary? Put Aidan Hutchinson in one side, and Maxx Crosby in the other."
Tannenbaum's demand for Lions to trade for Maxx Crosby is, in fact, a brainer
It's always funny when anyone offers the defense against their own suggestion that it is a "no brainer," when, in fact, it's something that would require a ton of mental gymnastics to even justify.
Crosby's cap hit, for anyone wondering, is over $35 million just this year. It hovers around $27-29 million over the remainder of his deal, which would coincide with cap hits from Aidan Hutchinson, Jack Campbell, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jared Goff, and several other core members of the Lions team as currently constructed.
Why would Detroit, after clearly prioritizing building through the draft and rewarding homegrown talent with well-deserved extensions, essentially nerf their ability to spend anywhere else on the roster at positions of need with a Crosby trade? It makes no sense.
Additionally, the Lions are very obviously seeking to find help for Hutchinson this year without having to make a huge splash trade like the one for Crosby. Derrick Moore was the draft pick that they decided to invest in this year at that position, while DJ Wonnum, Payton Turner, Alim McNeill, Tyler Lacy, Ahmed Hassanein, and Tyleik Williams are all factoring as pass rush threats so far in training camp.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, this would be an unbelievably uncharacteristic move for the Lions front office.
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They pride themselves on being able to find help on the margins, for better or for worse, as they look to lock in the rest of their young core throughout the next two seasons. Based on the first few weeks of training camp, it sounds like they've netted very good depth at the position by finding that help outside of a Crosby-type move.
I get it. "Get Up!," like a lot of other ESPN programming has become a safe haven for these steaming hot takes that are often not based in any sort of reality, or critical thinking, or in fact.
It's all feelings based - he feels like Detroit needs to go all in and take on a gargantuan contract in order to contend this year. He feels like their window is closing because of Goff's aging (which has yet to become a factor on the field, mind you.) He feels like the Lions' best bet at a Super Bowl is taking on an oft-injured defender, when injuries are the exact reason he's proposing this deal in the first place.
It's a slow news day, week, etc. as we get closer to the beginning of the Lions preseason, but that doesn't mean we need to just say whatever comes to mind about where this club needs to improve. I promise.
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