In the past four or five years, the Detroit Lions have built one of the most stacked rosters in the National Football League. As usually happens, because of salary cap constraints, someone will inevitably be the odd man out.
Dan Campbell's team has more talent than the average, especially on offense. So, if they were to consider moving on from any of their stars, it would probably have to be someone from that side of the field who's also about to cash in on a big extension.
Star running back Jahmyr Gibbs is untouchable, so that leaves just one candidate to be on the move before the start of the season: Sam LaPorta. While that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be gone, there's definitely a case to be made.
Lions may want to consider trading Sam LaPorta
The Lions have to pay Gibbs, LaPorta, and safety Brian Branch. They already signed Jack Campbell to a very lucrative contract extension, so there might not be enough money to spread around. Of course, they can always push money into the future with void years, but it would still hamper their flexibility for future deals.
Branch is coming off a season-ending injury and might not be available for Week 1, so it's hard to believe someone will try to trade for him. LaPorta, on the other hand, might have a robust market, even coming off an injury of his own, as an elite pass-catching tight end.
The Lions are one of the few teams that can actually afford to ditch an 800-yard type of tight end. They also have Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and a promising young star in Isaac TeSlaa, so even with new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing in town, he might be fourth in the pecking order.
This team has already committed big bucks to Campbell, St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson, Kerby Joseph, Penei Sewell, and Jared Goff. They will eventually have to make sacrifices, and LaPorta can probably land them a decent return in the trade market.
This isn't an indictment of LaPorta. If anything, knowing that you have a valuable trade chip and a surplus of talent is a great problem to have, and most general managers would die to have the roster Brad Holmes has put together in Detroit.
But with not much financial flexibility for other trades and future extensions and greater needs to address on the defensive side of the field, LaPorta's days in Michigan might be coming to an end pretty soon.
Add us as a preferred source on Google