The Detroit Lions have swiftly established themselves as one of the best teams in the NFC, if not the whole NFL. Through seven weeks, Detroit is one of five 5-2 clubs in the league. Only two past Super Bowl finalists had a better record than the Lions: the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Their only two defeats were against two-loss teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Baltimore Ravens.
Advanced stats like the Lions too. They rank ninth in the NFL in EPA per play on offense and 14th in the league in EPA per play allowed on defense. They lead the NFC North by two games over the Minnesota Vikings too. They look like they have the goods to make their first playoff birth since 2016 and win their first playoff game since 1991.
But to help their cause, the Lions should look to swing a trade between now and the October 31st trade deadline. The question is, what is the trade they should make?
Lions trade for Carolina Panthers linebacker Brian Burns
Panthers receive: first, third-round pick
Lions receive: Burns
Why the Lions should do it
The Lions need help at rushing the passer. Detroit has the NFL’s 28th-best unit at getting to the quarterback, according to ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric. Considering there are 32 teams in the NFL, being 28th is not where a team with playoff aspirations wants to be.
Looking at just raw sacks, the Lions don’t fare admirably there either. Detroit does rank in the middle of the pack in that regard, but it’s been a collective effort to get even that far. Aidan Hutchinson has 4.5 sacks on the season; the rest of the team has 10.5 and no one else other than Hutchinson has more than the two sacks defensive tackle Alim McNeil has so far this season.
Brian Burns would change all of that. Burns has registered at least 7.5 sacks in every full season he’s played in his NFL career and racked up at least nine sacks in each of his previous three seasons before 2023. He’s already off to a good start this season too with four sacks in six games.
Burns would be a major boost to Detroit’s pass rush and would instantly give them more playoff equity. There are quite a few pass rushers that could be available, but Burns is the best of the bunch. He’d make a big difference for the Lions.
Why the Panthers do it
The Panthers are in rebuild mode. They’re the only winless team left in the NFL and they don’t have their first-round pick as a result of their trade-up to acquire the number one overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, which they used to select Alabama’s Bryce Young. Having the worst record in the NFL and not having a first-round pick is a very bad combination.
As a result, the Panthers should try to get as much draft capital as they can get, and Burns should be able to fetch them plenty of that. A year ago, they were offered two first-round picks by the Los Angeles Rams for Burns as well as a second, via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.
Maybe they can get that type of haul again, but that is a lot for a team to fork over. Getting a first and a third is not a bad consolation prize either. And considering that the Panthers have yet to extend Burns long term, it sure is a heck of a lot better than letting him walk for nothing.
Last year, the Denver Broncos received a first-round pick for Bradley Chubb in this position. Burns should fetch at least one first-round pick for the Panthers. They should take it if they can.
