Lions looking to deal No. 2 pick for more picks rather than take Johnson
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
By Tom Kowalski
ALLEN PARK -- Here's a question that needs to be asked: If there are four or five teams who are willing to give up a great deal in a trade, for the opportunity to draft wide receiver Calvin Johnson, why would the Detroit Lions not want him, too?
There is a perception that Lions president Matt Millen, after his recent first-round disasters with wide receivers Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, doesn't have the nerve to take another shot at a receiver. That is a mistaken opinion.
The Lions think as highly of Johnson as everybody else in the NFL does, and Millen would have absolutely no problem pulling the trigger on drafting him (after all, from a public relations standpoint, it couldn't get any worse for Millen).
No, the reason the Lions are eagerly willing to trade their No. 2 overall pick to another team (so that team can draft Johnson) is because one great player isn't going to turn the Lions around. They need a lot of good players and that's why Millen wants to stockpile draft picks.
In addition to adding more players, Millen hopes to parlay some of those extra draft choices into ammunition to move back up in the draft in later rounds to get the players they have targeted at certain positions.
Johnson, along with Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas, is considered one of the "safest" picks in the draft because there are so few questions about his game, both on and off the field. Johnson has great speed (4.35 in the 40-yard dash) and size (6-foot-5 and 240 pounds) and fantastic hands. He's a hard worker who is willing to go across the middle and puts himself before the team.
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Lions looking to deal No. 2 pick for more picks rather than take Johnson
Lions looking to deal No. 2 pick for more picks rather than take Johnson
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