Allen Park — As the 2026 NFL Draft neared its start, the Detroit Lions were among the rumored teams that were picking up steam as a trade-up candidate in Round 1.
But when the dust settled on the first round Thursday night, the Lions got their man at pick No. 17, Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller, without having to give up any additional capital.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes confirmed that he “strongly” weighed the possibility of a trade-up after offensive tackles were taken with pick Nos. 9 (Spencer Fano, Cleveland Browns), 10 (Francis Mauigoa, New York Giants) and 12 (Kadyn Proctor, Miami Dolphins).
“We did,” Holmes said, smiling, when asked if he thought about pulling the trigger on a trade. “Look, we talked to teams up, way up … to see if we can be at peace with what the capital is that you’d have to extend. But yeah, we definitely explored strongly about trading up.”
Holmes has never been wont to chase positions in his post as Lions GM, but the Lions had a glaring need at tackle in a tackle-heavy Round 1. He said he was worried about teams learning about Detroit’s tackle-needs and jumping in front of them to secure Miller. The Lions were heavily linked to Proctor, who went earlier in the round, during the pre-draft process.
Alas, when the Los Angeles Rams selected quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th pick, he felt confident that he was in the clear.
“Right after L.A. took the quarterback, I felt pretty good that we might be able to just get Blake (at No. 17),” Holmes said. “The other thing is that there’s just a little scare of, OK, I felt like from the outside looking in, we had this big, like, tackle target on our back, so if a team behind us was in the tackle market, then they might want to jump us as well.
“We definitely explored that, but right about 14, I felt pretty good that we would be able to keep our assets and still land Blake.”
The Lions were also thought of as a team that could look to trade back. Detroit is without a third-round pick in this year’s draft because of the trade that landed wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa last year.
Holmes said he only got one serious call about trading back on draft night.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” Holmes said.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Lions ‘strongly’ weighed trade-up for Clemson OT Blake Miller
Reporting by Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
