Detroit Lions Looking to Trade for a Running Back

According to GM Martin Mayhew, the Detroit Lions are looking for help at running back.

“I’ve talked to agents for several players,”  Mayhew said at his pre-draft press conference. “We’ve talked about trades. We’ve talked about trading for some players. We talk now about the draft. We’ll see how we come out of this.”

Very rarely do we see front office types come right out and tell everyone their intentions, but Mayhew is putting a notice out to any team with an available running back that their first call should be to Detroit.

Three teams with known available running backs — the Miami Dolphins (Ronnie Brown), Buffalo Bills (Marshawn Lynch), and Tennessee Titans (LenDale White) — are all in the AFC and would likely jump at the opportunity to trade outside the conference.

However, don’t expect a deal to get done until after the draft, if at all. The Lions understand they’re a rebuilding team and will most likely look to draft a running back before they get into serious talks with any of the three teams mentioned.

C.J. Spiller and Ryan Matthews are the only two running backs with a first-round grade, but neither is good enough to be taken second overall ahead of guys like Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Trent Williams, or Russel Okung. The second round is probably where the Lions would like to land a guy like Javhid Best or Jonathan Dwyer and avoid the big contracts that would accompany a veteran player.

This is certainly something to keep your eyes on, Lions fans, but don’t expect the talks to heat up until May.