How the Eagles-Saints trade impacts the draft and the Detroit Lions

There was a very interesting trade in the NFL on Monday, one that could have some impact on the Detroit Lions and their draft options later this month.

The trade was a big one. The New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles did some shuffling of a lot of picks:

The Saints moved up into acquiring an extra first-round pick this year, with the Eagles bowing out on two of their three picks in the teens this draft. Philadelphia still has No. 15 overall, but they shifted their draft emphasis more to the future and to the later rounds of 2022.

What the Saints did poises them to potentially make another trade up. New Orleans now has ammo to move up much higher if they choose to, in the manner the Eagles once did to jump up and select Carson Wentz. Or how the Texans flew up the draft to snag Deshaun Watson a year later.

A potential move like that is where the Lions come into play. Detroit sits at No. 2 but without an obvious candidate for the Lions to select there. If the overhauled Saints — now without Sean Payton at coach and Drew Brees at QB — really like a player like Liberty QB Malik Willis, they can now move up to No. 2 and get him. The intertwining between the two teams is hard to ignore, with Lions head coach Dan Campbell a former Saints assistant.

That’s purely speculation, of course. The Saints could be trying to get better control of their salary cap with the fixed long-term costs of two first-round picks. They could be just trying to add more immediate talents to help speed up the reboot, really liking multiple prospects in the middle of the first. Many Saints fans hope that is the case, judging from the social media commentary.

It’s the timing of the move that leads to the speculation of something more grandiose being in the works. Why would this trade get done now when neither team knows which players will be available? The Saints clearly have something in mind.

If that something is another leap up, the Lions are in a great spot to sate any Saints’ thirst. Picks 16, 19 and a useful but expensive player (Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis) makes for an enticing offer, one that Lions GM Brad Holmes might find acceptable.

There’s also the Eagles to consider here. If they want to recoup some of the lost draft capital in 2022, the Lions have multiple picks to potentially package and move up from 32 or 34 (or both) to land the No. 18 pick. Philadelphia is in a similar situation as Detroit at quarterback, where the Eagles are hoping Jalen Hurts can prove he’s the long-term solution in the same way the Lions are hoping Jared Goff does the same. That is the primary takeaway from the move from Glenn Erby at Eagles Wire.

The extra first-rounder the Eagles acquired next year matches Detroit’s, too. That means competition to potentially move up and select a quarterback like Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, who sure looks like the No. 1 pick in 2023. The Dolphins, Texans and Seahawks also have two first-round picks in the 2023 draft now.