The Detroit Lions can take advantage of the Ramsey-Steelers trade

AtoZ Sports

Mike Payton discusses how the Detroit Lions can leverage the Jalen Ramsey trade between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins by trading a late round draft pick to the Steelers in exchange for tight end Darnell Washington

Transcript

00:00There's a big way that the Detroit Lions can take advantage of this whole Jalen Ramsey Steelers

00:05trade. Let's talk about it. Hi, it's Mike Paye from A2Z Sports Detroit. Today, we're going to

00:12talk about how the Lions can get involved and take advantage of this Jalen Ramsey trade that

00:18the Steelers and Dolphins just made. Obviously, the Lions are not going to get any big Pro Bowl

00:22corners out of this. They're not going to go get a huge edge rusher or anything like that,

00:26but they can get a really solid tight end too. I know that's not the thing that everybody wants to

00:33be the most excited about in this whole world, but the Lions actually do need one. I know they

00:38have Brock Wright and they have Kenny Yeboah and they have Shane Zylstra, but the Lions spent the

00:43summer looking for tight ends. They spent the offseason looking for tight ends. They were

00:47looking at the draft. They were looking at free agency. They had guys come in. They have been

00:51looking for someone particularly who can run block, and that is something that Darnell Washington of

00:57the Pittsburgh Steelers can absolutely bring to the table for the Lions. Now, Washington is a name

01:03you might remember for a couple reasons. His NFL combine in 2023 was huge. Everybody watched this

01:09guy with the giant hands making these one-handed catches, big six-foot-seven dude, huge. Not much of a

01:15receiving tight end, a phenomenal blocking tight end. Really good run blocker, really solid pass

01:21blocker, but he's kind of found himself down the depth chart in Pittsburgh now. Not only did the

01:27Steelers get Jalen Ramsey, they also got tight end Jonu Smith in this deal, and with Jonu Smith and Pat

01:33Fryer move and Cameron Hayward, the Steelers are pretty set at tight end at the moment, so they could

01:39spare Washington. Washington is someone the Lions really liked in that 2023 NFL draft. They

01:45had Sam Laporta out for a top 30 visit, but they also had Washington out for a top 30 visit, so there

01:50was some interest. There could have been a move that possibly could have happened. They wound up going

01:55with Laporta when he fell to the second round. That worked out beautifully, obviously, and now the

02:01Lions could use another tight end. Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra, Kenny Yeboah all serve a purpose. Good

02:09pass blocking tight ends, but run blocking is where they really, really struggle, and that is where

02:13Washington can absolutely come in and score, and this doesn't have to be a very expensive trade.

02:19While Washington was a third round pick for the Steelers in 2023, he's not putting up third round

02:25pick numbers, and the going rate for a guy who is third, maybe even fourth on the depth chart at his

02:31position right now in Pittsburgh, it's not going to be super high. I would say a sixth round pick would

02:37get this done and get Washington into Detroit where he could be the tight end too, and be a huge part

02:43of the Lions' run game as well as their pass game, and I would even be interested to see him as a

02:48fullback. It's just a giant mountain of a man carrying that ball. You'd love to see it, right?

02:55So that's just one idea that we have for the Lions. Let me know what you guys have in the comments,

02:59and we'll see you next time.

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