How the Detroit Lions plan to address their edge rusher situation remains a mystery just a couple of days before the NFL Draft.
Throughout the offseason, they've been predicted to draft one, but their GM recently made it clear they wouldn't reach on one if the right player wasn't available.
There also aren't many good options available in free agency and it seems they are unwilling to pay for the best options out there.
That could lead the Lions to look for a trade during the draft.
The growing belief that Abdul Carter will be the third overall pick has made the idea of sending an offer to the Giants for Kayvon Thibodeaux seem more realistic.
However, AtoZ Sports' Mike Payton thinks the Lions should look to the AFC to find their trade partner.
In a recent article, Payton pitched the idea that the Lions should try to trade their fourth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for Odafe Oweh.
The decision to select Oweh in the first round of the 2021 draft was one that took a little while to fully pay off for the Ravens.
Owen showed a lot of promise as a rookie with five sacks in 15 games. Then he took a step back in year two, only contributing three sacks.
In 2023, he got his tally back up to five sacks, which was enough to convince the Ravens to exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.
He rewarded that decision with 10 sacks in 2024. He also had 48 pressures according to Pro Football Focus, which was good for 29th among edge rushers.
Now they have another big decision to make on Oweh, which is whether or not they want to extend his contract beyond 2025.
If they don't want to do that, trying to get a return on him in a trade before he leaves makes a lot of sense.
For the Lions, a fourth-round pick wouldn't be a bad price at all to get this kind of upgrade for their pass rush.
The one issue with the move is that they would only have Oweh for one year if they don't work out an extension with him and that may be difficult with some of their current stars needing extension this offseason and next offseason.
Still, he would definitely improve the pass rush and even getting him as a rental could be the right move for a team looking to win a Super Bowl next season.
