Detroit Lions acquire defensive tackle Michael Brockers in trade with Rams
By Craig Smith
The Detroit Lions have acquired Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers via trade in return for a 2023 7th round draft pick. Freshly hired General Manager Brad Holmes continues to go to the well and bring in former players from his time with the Rams organization.
The #Lions are trading a 2023 7th round pick to the #Rams in exchange for DT Michael Brockers, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2021
First, let’s start with the compensation, a 2023 seventh-round pick that is three drafts away when writing this piece. I researched how far in the future a team could go when trading future draft picks. The best I could come up with was an article on Pro Football Talk from 2015.
Here it is stated that, per the league office, a team can trade draft picks up to three years away before the start of the draft, or under the current circumstances, through the 2023 draft. Once the draft begins, then the next draft in line becomes available.
Therefore if this trade didn’t happen until the 2021 draft had started, then teams could have tapped into the 2024 draft pick supply. But we have not yet reached the 2021 draft, meaning Detroit giving up its seventh-round pick in 2023 was the absolute lowest value asset it has to acquire Brockers.
The Detroit Lions have acquired a quality player in Michael Brockers via the trade with the Los Angeles Rams.
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Don’t take that the wrong way. Brockers is still, at 30 years old, a quality defensive tackle who can get after the quarterback.
Last season, Brockers played 61% of the Rams defensive snaps across 15 games, registering 51 tackles, 5 sacks, and 5 tackles for a loss.
That is equal to every member of Detroit’s defensive line not named Romeo Okwara (10) or Everson Griffen (3.5 for Detroit) combined last. Yes, I am sure it did help Brockers stats playing on a line with Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd.
But he presents an immediate upgrade to the Lions interior front seven, likely slotting into the starting lineup next to space-eater John Penisini, with Nick Williams rotating in. His cap hit will be approximately $8 million this year, as there are conflicting reports between Over The Cap and Spotrac as to his cap hits; $1.5 million of his salary this year is guaranteed.
While the current Lions front office may be giving a similar feeling to the Matt Patricia/Bob Quinn moves of acquiring talent from their former team, their moves also feel different.
Must Read. Detroit Lions: Romeo Okwara to be used various ways in 2021. light
Getting maximum value in the Jared Goff deal and now giving up the absolute bare minimum for a still productive Brockers certainly leaves a different taste in your mouth.