After one of the most successful two-year stretches in franchise history, the Detroit Lions are heading into an important 2025 NFL Draft. Detroit heads into this year’s draft with the 28th overall pick and seven total selections in this year’s draft but it will look to add an immediate contributor to a team that reached the NFC Championship Game in 2023 and was the NFC’s No. 1 seed in 2024.
This draft is the foundation toward that success. Brad Holmes began the build when he found Penei Sewell, Alim McNeill and Amon-Ra St. Brown during the 2021 draft and added to it with Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Kerby Joseph and Malcom Rodriguez in the 2022 draft.
Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch followed in the 2023 draft and while the 2024 draft didn’t bear any contributors outside of Terrion Arnold, the Lions have a good chance of finding some gems this year.
In this article, we’ll go over where the Lions are picking in this year’s draft, how they got their picks and what they could end up doing when they’re on the clock in Green Bay.
- Lions Draft Picks 2025
- What Happened to the Lions Original Picks?
- How Did The Lions Gain Their Additional Picks?
- Team Needs
Lions Draft Picks 2025
Round | Pick | Overall | Traded From |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 28 | 28 | - |
2 | 28 | 60 | - |
3 | 38 | 102 | Compensatory |
4 | 28 | 130 | - |
6 | 20 | 196 | Tampa Bay |
7 | 12 | 228 | Dallas |
7 | 28 | 244 | - |
What Happened to the Lions Original Picks?
The Lions own their original picks in the first (28th overall), second (60th overall), fourth (130th overall) and seventh (244th overall) rounds of the upcoming draft. But they’ve also shuffled some picks along the way thanks to trades and the compensatory system.
The Lions traded their original 2025 third round pick (No. 92 overall) in a trade with the New York Jets in exchange for a fourth-round pick in last year’s draft. Detroit selected offensive lineman Giovanni Manu with the 126th overall selection but he did not appear in a game during his rookie season.
The Lions' original fifth-round pick (164th overall) was also used in the trade deadline deal to acquire Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns. Smith played eight games and collected four sacks for the Lions after the trade but was released at the end of the season. The Lions have also remained in contact with the 32-year-old with an outside chance of a potential reunion.
The Browns also hold Detroit’s sixth-round pick (204th overall) from a 2023 trade for Donovan Peoples-Jones. Peoples-Jones caught five passes for 58 yards in eight games after the trade and spent last year on the Lions practice squad.
How Did The Lions Gain Their Additional Picks?
Compensatory Picks
Detroit earned a third-round compensatory pick (102nd overall) in this year’s draft after former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn took the head coaching job with the New York Jets. The move comes from the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which rewards teams that lose a minority coach to a head coaching job with compensatory picks in back-to-back seasons. The Lions will also get a third-round compensatory pick in 2026.
Traded Picks
The Lions also earned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sixth-round selection (196th overall) as part of last year’s trade for Carlton Davis. Davis spent one season in Detroit, registering 56 total tackles, two interceptions, 11 pass defenses, a forced fumble and a pair of fumble recoveries, before signing with the New England Patriots this spring.
The Lions received the Dallas Cowboys’ seventh round pick (228th overall) as part of the trade-up for Terrion Arnold in the first round of last year’s draft. Arnold started 15 games, recording 60 total tackles and recovering a fumble.
Team Needs
The good news is that the Lions don’t have a ton of needs heading into next season. While they added D.J. Reed in free agency to replace Davis, their bigger need has been depth after 13 players ended last year on injured reserve.
Edge rusher could be the favorite to go in the first round of the draft even as Aidan Hutchinson returns from a broken leg. The Lions could also use a guard after Kevin Zeitler departed for the Tennessee Titans in free agency and linebacker could be a sleeper target with Alex Anzalone and Malcolm Rodriguez slated to be free agents after next season.
The consensus mock draft on NFL Mock Draft database currently has Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku slated to join the Lions with the 28th overall pick, but Alabama guard Tyler Booker and Marshall edge Rusher Mike Green could also be targets.
The NFL Draft will begin in Green Bay on April 24.