Detroit Lions: 3 players to move leading up to the NFL trade deadline

As the NFL trade deadline vastly approaches, if the Detroit Lions are serious about building a winning franchise, they need to become sellers.

It’s a difficult determination to make if you are general manager Bob Quinn, understanding that the Detroit Lions management has given the current regime a season ultimatum, but it is the correct decision to sell at the NFL trade deadline.

Let’s face it, the Detroit Lions are not a championship-caliber team, and something needs to give.  In a year shaping up to be a hectic trade deadline, Detroit needs to join the party and move some of their expiring pieces for much-needed draft capital rather than sitting on their hands watching some valuable contracts simply expire.

Here are three players the Detroit Lions need to trade leading up to the November 3rd this coming Tuesday.

RB Adrian Peterson

Last week the Detroit Lions finally saw the production out of rookie running back D’Andre Swift the organization expected when using the 35th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on his services.  Swift galloped for 116 yards on just 14 totes, along with finding the endzone twice.

Now, we can’t expect that type of production week in and week out, but Swift is a much more viable option out of Detroit’s backfield moving forward than continuing to roll with the future Hall Of Famer.   The Detroit Lions need to ride Swift, Kerryon Johnson, and mix in Bo Scarbrough, who proved last season to be productive in a Peterson-type role.

Adrian Peterson has averaged 4.1 yards per carry through his first 69 carries of the season, suitable for 285 yards and two scores.  Here’s the bad news, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Peterson ranks as the 51st tailback out of 51 qualified.

The veteran back could be valuable to a playoff team as a third option, an insurance policy, and Detroit would be wise to move him for a day three draft pick, a sixth or seventh-rounder.