After two consecutive playoff appearances and several experts picking them as a Super Bowl contender, the 2025 season hasn't gone as planned for coach Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions. After they plodded through a 16-3 loss in Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles, it left them with a 6-4 record, trailing both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.
The offense suddenly went ice cold, exposing some holes in Detroit's normally dynamic defense.That's something the franchise could remedy by acquiring defensive end Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns in the offseason.
Garrett, the first overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, has spent his entire career in Cleveland. And although he has racked up 117.5 sacks and was named an All-Pro four times, the team has never been a serious threat to win a Super Bowl, which is the veteran's ultimate goal. He has formally requested a trade in the hopes of landing with a contender. In March, Garrett signed a four-year extension through the 2030 season, which included a no-trade clause. So, it's his call where he goes, if the team elects to grant him his wishes.
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"As a kid dreaming of the NFL, all I focused on was the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl -- and that goal fuels me today more than ever," Garrett wrote in a statement. "... The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton; it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl."
"With that in mind, I have requested to be traded from the Cleveland Browns."
Myles Garrett's potential pairing with Aidan Hutchison
With that in mind, Detroit could make a huge move to bring in Garrett, with an extra caveat. He would form the fiercest set of bookends in the NFL - lining up on opposite sides of the ball. The move would serve as insurance, as well, if one of the two happens to fall to injury. As Alex Kay of Bleacher Report recently speculated on four potential destinations if Garrett is on the move, Detroit was one of the teams that would be a good fit.
"Picking up a player like Garrett would give Detroit the firepower it needs on the defensive side of the ball to become a heavy Super Bowl favorite," Kay wrote. "It would also allow them to withstand losses to the likes of Aidan Hutchinson, whose absence for much of the 2024 campaign and subsequent playoffs doomed the team's title hopes."
The two outside rushers have combined for 22.5 sacks on the year so far, with Hutchinson being hampered by injuries. But the proposition of having both in the Motor City is not ony intriguing, it could be the missing piece to the Lions' Super Bowl puzzle.