Aftermath of a Surprising Trade

Wow, I really did not see this trade coming. Not only do the Lions normally not make moves at all, especially with players of significance, but they also traded one of their most established starters. I really hope that this was not an overreaction to the Lions dropping their last two games to division rivals. The thing is, I am not even necessarily angry that we traded Quandre Diggs, but there are a few things that do upset me about this.

Here are the full details of the trade:

Seahawks receive: Quandre Diggs, 2021 seventh-round pick

Lions receive: 2020 fifth-round pick

When we drafted Quandre Diggs out of Texas in 2015, he was a cornerback. He was okay at cornerback but never really got much playing time. Then, when we moved him to safety back in 2017, he really came into is own. Watching that development was a lot of fun as a fan because, let’s be honest, the Lions traditionally have not been very good at developing young talent or really putting them into position to succeed (e.g. Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah, who Diggs is now reunited with in Seattle). Despite being a little smaller in stature, he still would light guys up over the middle, and plays like that are always energizing to a team. He also was a real leader in the locker room, as demonstrated by all the Lions’ players expressing their surprise and displeasure with the trade over Twitter. I do not think I have ever seen that kind of response from other players when a trade went down, typically they just express thanks and wish them luck, but they are going well beyond that in this case. Some of the players included Darius Slay, Jamal Agnew, and Damon Harrison, who all showed complete shock about what just happened, and they even seemed upset that it happened, especially Slay. I think that really speaks to the kind of player and the kind of person that Diggs was both on and off the field.

As for how I feel about the trade, I have very mixed emotions. There are good and bad aspects of it, for sure, and it all depends on what perspective you take with it.

The Good

Diggs had been somewhat underperforming as of late, despite the fact that our secondary as a whole has looked pretty good. In that respect, it is good to get him out because he was negatively affecting our defense, but he has shown the ability to perform in the past, so again, I hope that this was not an overreaction by our front office.

We also have a lot of talent at the safety position right now, specifically Will Harris, who plays at the strong safety position and is likely to slide into Diggs’ now-vacant spot more often. If we now get to see a duo of Tracy Walker and Harris at safety, then I am far from upset, in fact, I am very excited. Walker has played very well so far this season, and Harris has shown a lot of promise already despite just being a rookie. When a team has young talent that is ready to contribute, it makes sense to trade away an older player that might be playing ahead of them.

This trade may have been a salary move. With Diggs’ contract now off the books, perhaps the Lions are looking to make a big move closer to the deadline. I know a popular idea was for the Lions to trade for Jalen Ramsey. Unfortunately, that is now off the table, although maybe they have their eyes on somebody else. They may also be trying to clear some space so we can resign Darius Slay, who did hold out early on in training camp hoping for a new contract. Ultimately, I just hope that we see the money go towards someone who really brings a lot of value to the team.

The Bad

In my opinion, our return in this trade is extremely underwhelming. Diggs has been an established starter for us for a few years, and for the most part has played well. He is not a superstar by any stretch, but he is overall an above-average player. To only get a fifth-round pick in exchange for him and a seventh-round pick is disappointing, to say the least. I feel like we could have gotten up to a third-round pick if we found the right buyer. It is possible that the Seahawks were the only offer on the table, but either we did not think he was worth more than that, or we just wanted him out of here so badly that we just pulled the trigger and accepted it. If we are looking to make a blockbuster trade later on, this mentality would make sense, because we need time to try and make that happen before the deadline. I am not even sure how badly I want us to pull off a big move, necessarily, I just want whatever we tried to free up, whether it be money or a roster spot, to really help this team win more games.

Another issue I have is that this seems like a move that a team that is trying to sell would make, which implies giving up on the current season. If this is actually the case, then that really destroys any confidence I have in our front office. This season is far from over for us, as we are sitting at 2-3-1 and are very much in play for a wild card spot, at least. I do not think that the team is selling and giving up, but when a move like this happens, where a good player is traded for not much in return, it really does make you wonder.

I believe this move has to be viewed from a big picture perspective, mostly because our immediate return is next to nothing, especially for a player of Diggs’ caliber. We will get to see younger guys like Will Harris get more playing time, and we also opened up some money that we could use to do something really big. It is also worth noting that we did just sign Marcus Gilchrist, who is a well-established safety, albeit not exactly a fantastic one. I assume he will probably get some playing time, although I would much rather see Harris out there instead. As disappointing as it is to see a guy like Diggs go, there is a very good chance this ends up working out to our benefit. We just have to trust that Bob Quinn knows what he is doing.