Eagles vs. Lions: Who Won D’Andre Swift Trade - And Who'll Win On Field?
PHILADELPHIA - The Detroit Lions started to show signs of life last season, turning around an ugly 1-6 start to finish above .500 at 9-8, the first time the organization has had its head above water since 2017.
The optimism is growing in the Motor City this spring to the point that the playoffs for the first time since 2016 look attainable.
Although it took a while for the Lions to show improvement last season, the Philadelphia Eagles were on the ground floor of understanding it after a season-opening dogfight that took all 60 minutes to escape Ford Field with a 38-35 win.
Late in the season, unprompted, Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert offered up an interesting stance.
“I don’t care what anyone says, Detroit was the toughest [team] we played all season,” the star tight end said.
Considering Philadelphia made it all the way to Super Bowl LVII and is the reigning conference champion, it would be wise to take note of Goedert’s critique.
The Lions, under head coach Dan Campbell, are a team on the rise in a division where the two perceived powers – Green Bay and Minnesota - are trending in a negative direction. and Chicago is still steps away from competing at a high level after a reset under GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus.
It’s not inconceivable that the Lions could be one of the main hurdles between the Eagles and a return trip to the big game next season.
And that’s why the 2023 NFL Draft was an interesting look at both organizations for both obvious reasons and under-the-radar ones.
The acquisition of a potential RB1 by the Eagles on Saturday, bringing Philadelphia native D’Andre Swift back home from Detroit, was front and center. The reasons behind the deal are more indicative of why the well-regarded Eagles are keeping upstarts at bay.
Swift, 24, was the 35th pick in the 2020 draft by the Lions and didn’t live up to expectations, topping out at 617 yards with 62 receptions in 2021. That’s why Detroit went out and signed David Montgomery in free agency and selected the electric Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall.
Unconcerned about the assets third-year Lions GM Brad Holmes had to pour into a devalued position to right the Swift "mistake," Eagles GM Howie Roseman saw the obvious path.
“We thought maybe it was an opportunity,” Roseman said. “They signed Montgomery in free agency, and they took Gibbs, and we knew [Swift] was in the last year of his deal.”
Just like that, Roseman understood Holmes would be selling low on Swift, a young player who still has the juice to take off behind one of the league’s best offensive lines with the plus-one effect of Jalen Hurts creating space and light boxes, all for under $2 million.
And all it took for Roseman was swapping seventh-rounder on Saturday and sending along a 2025 fourth-round selection that will likely be at the bottom of the round.
The esoteric nature of the draft process is what most observers miss.
Good decisions don’t guarantee good outcomes and vice versa when it comes to bad decisions. But, stacking good decisions increases the odds of success. That, plus a little luck, is the magic formula to NFL success.
The rain has been unrelenting in the Delaware Valley through most of the draft and into Sunday. The various weather forecasts all predicted that. If you had to go out, carrying an umbrella or piling on the rain gear was a good decision but there was also a little break here and there on Saturday where lugging the umbrella or rockin' the poncho may have seemed like an inconvenience.
Right up until the next downpour when the bad decision-makers lost out in the end.
Immediate draft grades rival mock drafts for their silliness so the goal with this reporter is to grade decisions, the true gauge of long-term success.
In the case of the Lions, who knows?
Holmes may have snared two Pro Bowl-level players in Gibbs at No. 12 and Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell at No. 18, but if rolling the dice on devalued positions with premium assets becomes a habit, Detroit is doomed to the tortured existence it has been trying to dig out from.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
