One of the most surprising picks in the 2025 NFL draft was the Detroit Lions' selection of Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa.
Not only did the Lions take him in the third round, where nobody projected him to go, the team also traded up in order to draft him. The Lions moved up 32 spots to grab the little-known wideout via trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars that saw Detroit give up three third-round picks, including two in 2026.
But that trade didn't go off without a hitch, one NFL insider revealed.
According to Mike Silver of The Athletic, after there was an agreement between the Lions and Jags, the two sides had an issue sending it into the league because of a communication error. Thankfully, that was finally fixed and the trade ended up getting done just in time.
“Then things got dicey,” Silver explained. “[Jaguars director of player finance Trip] MacCracken nailed down the trade with [Lions COO Mike] Disner and both contacted the assigned NFL representative to make the terms official.
"However, a communications issue with the league slowed down the process.”
We don't get a lot of behind-the-scenes looks at the goings on in NFL draft war rooms, so this was a fun story to read. And, it just goes to show that even a multi-billion-dollar organization like the NFL can have its breakdowns at crucial times.
While TeSlaa wasn't a well-known commodity going into the NFL draft, he was clearly very much on the radar of general manager Brad Holmes, who said the Arkansas product was his favorite receiver in the draft.
"I’ll give you this, though: The pick that was probably the most questioned, I would say, was Isaac TeSlaa," he said, according to Richard Silva of The Detroit News. "I can say that he was my favorite wide receiver in this draft. I’m not saying he was the best wide receiver in the draft. But favorite wide receiver in the draft? Yes."
TeSlaa will now look to carve out a role on the Lions' offense in what is a crowded receivers room that also includes Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick and Kalif Raymond.
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