On Wednesday, Denzel Mims was reportedly (per the New York Post) going to be traded or waived by the New York Jets as soon as plausible. The Detroit Lions were worth mentioning as a team who could have interest in the former second-round pick. But their low place in the waiver priority would have made them unlikely to get him in that process.
Wednesday night, after Josina Anderson of CBS Sports had reported trade talks were ongoing regarding Mims, Connor Hughes of SNY was first to report the Lions were set to acquire him. Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network and others, the Lions will send a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick to the Jets and also receive a 2025 seventh-round pick.
Mims requested a trade last summer after clearly not connecting with a Jets' coaching staff that was not in place when he was drafted out of Baylor in 2020. He only saw offensive snaps when Elijah Moore was benched, and finished with 11 receptions for 186 yards in 10 games last season. He totaled just 19 catches over the last two seasons, after having 23 catches for 357 yards over nine games as a rookie.
Mims started his rookie season with an ankle injury, then he battled a bad bout of food poisoning the following spring as the new Robert Saleh-led coaching staff was coming in. This spring, he left OTAs because he wasn't happy with how he was being used in practice.
How does Denzel Mims fit into the Detroit Lions wide receving corps?
The conditional part of the sixth-round pick the Lions are sending to the Jets for Mims is likely conditional on one thing--his making the 53-man roster out of training camp. And that is hardly a guarantee.
That said, Mims has an intriguing blend of size (6-foot-3) and speed (4.38 40-yard dash) the Lions don't have at wide receiver. He has not had a great opportunity to show it in three NFL seasons thus far, for one reason or another.
As fliers go, to add some talent to a Lions' wide receiver room that could use an injection of some, Mims is as good as any who were available heading into training camp. Time will tell if he sticks at all.