Roary
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
- 1,742
- 0
Getty Images
There was a lot of chatter about the Lions wanting to trade back in the first round in the days and weeks leading up to the start of the draft, but they ultimately stayed put at No. 3 and picked cornerback Jeff Okudah.
Given the fact that the Dolphins were considered possible trade partners and that they drafted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, some have wondered why the Lions didn’t draft Tagovailoa and then work out a trade with Miami. During an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday, Lions General Manager Bob Quinn answered that question.
“Easier, I would say much easier, said than done,” Quinn said, via the Detroit News. “How do I know Tua was [Miami’s] guy? How do I know they didn’t really want an offensive tackle, which they had talked a lot about. There are so many maybes in that conversation, that’s why it doesn’t happen in the NFL. We don’t trust each other as GMs. I worked with [Dolphins G.M.] Chris Grier for a year. My first year in the league, Chris was in New England in 2000. So I know Chris. Ultimately, like you said, it’s a game of poker. On draft weekend, I take no one’s word. I couldn’t sit there and truthfully, for the Lions organization, consider something like that because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Quinn said last week that he never got a “firm offer” to trade down and he was asked Tuesday whether he would have accepted a trade into the Dolphins’ No. 5 spot with a small return of a late-round pick. He said he wouldn’t have taken a fifth-rounder because of the fear that someone would have traded with the Giants at No. 4 in order to take Okudah.