With the Detroit Lions standing pat on the NFL commerce deadline, coach Dan Campbell confronted a flurry of questions on Wednesday for why the group didn’t really feel the necessity to make a transfer. Earlier on Tuesday, Campbell mentioned they have been trying—notably at their currently-injured offensive line place—however he revealed the day after that nothing worthwhile materialized.
“There was nothing that was, I might say, sufficient to be noteworthy,” Campbell mentioned. “I imply it was definitely extra intriguing, however not—it wasn’t adequate. So, all good. All good. We’re able to roll.”
As an alternative of including gamers on the commerce deadline, the Lions opted so as to add three offensive lineman to their apply squad: veterans Netane Muti and Chris Hubbard, together with rookie lineman Jack Conley. Moreover, the Lions have gamers who’ve been across the program that they belief in reserve roles, together with Kayode Awosika, Trystan Colon, and apply squadders Kingsley Eguakun and Michael Niese.
Whereas Campbell instructed generally they’ll establish a participant who could also be higher than in-house choices, it’s typically not well worth the worth to amass them.
“Yeah, he’s a bit higher, however is it actually value that for what you’re giving up versus the following man now we have able to go because the backup that’s coming off of vet squad?” Campbell mentioned. “These more often than not are those that we’re like, ‘Properly, no I don’t suppose so.’ And we’ve been fairly good to this point. Doesn’t imply it’s excellent, however that’s simply how we really feel.”
Some have hoped the Lions could be extra aggressive with trades, spending excessive draft picks to amass premier expertise and go “all-in” for a Tremendous Bowl. With Lions normal supervisor Brad Holmes chopping his enamel beneath Rams normal supervisor Les Snead and his “F— them picks” mentality, many questioned if Holmes would function equally. That has not been the case as of but, and whereas Campbell rejected the concept that they might by no means make a transfer like that, he did admit that aggression doesn’t actually presently match their plan of draft, develop, and pay their inside choices.
“That’s a whole lot of capital, particularly with guys that we’ve received that we’re signing and we wish to proceed to signal to maintain what now we have intact,” Campbell mentioned. “Now, you’re not solely throwing the picks, you’ve additionally received to pay that participant too, most likely. In any other case, why are you throwing all of the picks at a man that you simply’re shopping for him for a yr? And so then it actually type of—all the things that we deliberate for, you simply may as effectively throw it within the trash.”
Campbell is now turning his focus to the fellows they’ve within the constructing. It’s his job to get them prepared for every Sunday and provides the group the very best probability to win the sport. He’s assured they’ve the gamers vital to try this.
“I really feel good. I’ll say this once more, my job is to freaking get these guys able to play on Sunday, and I’ve received the roster to do it,” Campbell mentioned. “We’ve received depth, we’ve received the dudes, we’ve received weapons, we’ve received a quarterback. I’ve received to do my half. I’ve received to do my job and I’ve received to get them prepared and I’ve received to ensure we cross all of the T’s, dot the I’s. And that we flip over each stone and ensure our guys are able to roll and we assist them get able to roll. So, I’m good. I really feel nice, I actually do.”
