Really? LA Rams Michael Brockers only nets 2023 7th-round pick

Brockers fills a huge Lions need

The Lions snatched up a solid veteran run-stuffer in Brockers who accounted for 51 tackles last season and matched a career-high mark with 10 quarterback hits and five sacks in 15 games. If he performs as well for the Detroit Lions, he will instantly become their second-best pass rusher, their seventh best tackler, and a true leader of the locker room.

The Lions had just waived off DT Danny Shelton, a failed attempt to strengthen the defensive line in 2020. That move saved $4 million of the Lions books.  This trade adds back $8.5 million.  While the difference in salary is significant, Brockers is by far the more accomplished player.

And now in his new home in the Motor City, Brockers will not only bring extra depth but join a defensive unit that includes Romeo Okwara, Austin Bryant, Julian Okwara, Da’Shawn Hand, and Trey Flowers on the other side. The organization has truly assembled an impressive coaching staff, included defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant.

I suppose the Rams had to pony up the cash from somewhere in order to pay OLB Leonard Floyd his $64 million duckets he was just re-signed for by the team. Even with the tiny mouse footprint impact Floyd’s contract impacted upon the team’s cap space this year, the Rams needed to find it somewhere. Sacrifices had to be made, compromises agreed to, pots of money found elsewhere. Brockers was just caught up in the Rams’ cold financial reality of this year’s salary cap haircut.

As a result? The Detroit Lions, a team clearly hoping to rebuild a winner, have obtained a young successful quarterback, a defensive lineman, two firsts, and a third-round draft pick for a veteran quarterback and a 2023 seventh-round pick. On second thought? The Rams appear to have been fleeced, twice.