To borrow a phrase from one of my colleagues:WHATJUSTHAPPENED?The Detroit Lions traded away Golden Tate—a centerpiece of their offense for 4.5 years—for a third-round pick.I’ll be honest Frank Ragnow Jersey , I didn’t take any of the trade rumors seriously. These kind of things pop up every single year, and although the Lions didn’t show any serious signs of re-signing the 30-year-old receiver, it didn’t make all that much sense to me to ship him, especially after making an aggressive move last week by adding Damon Harrison Sr. to the team. While I’m being honest, it’s hard to get over the emotional loss here. Tate has been a joy to watch on the field, and he’s been one of the most entertaining off it. He’s one of the few members of the locker room that will stand by and talk openly for all 45 minutes of the media session. No bullshit. No coach-speak. He’ll say what’s on his mind and let you sit with it. Even if I wasn’t writing a story about him, I’d often stand there next to him just to hear someone speak candidly for once. But let’s put the emotions aside for a minute and offer my quick thoughts.Are the Lions trying to contend this year or not?Tomorrow, Matt Patricia is expected to talk to the media, as he does every Wednesday. He’ll almost certainly say that this changes nothing about the 2018 season and that the team’s goals remain the same: win the division, win a playoff game, win the championship. Detroit is only a game behind the NFC North lead, and by trading for Damon Harrison Sr.—a 29-year-old defensive tackle—it looked like they were prepared to make a jump towards contender.But this move suggests they’re more concerned about 2019 and beyond. Golden Tate led all Lions receivers in targets, receptions, receiving yards and plays of 20+ yards this season. He’s clearly developed a chemistry with Matthew Stafford, and his loss will undoubtedly send shockwaves through Detroit’s offense. There’s no doubt the team is worse off in 2018 now without Tate, and coming off such a poor performance against the Seahawks, you have to think Detroit could be headed for a long November and December.So what was that “Snacks” trade all about?Well, I think we need to reevaluate what that trade was about. And our friend Brian Phillips from Pats Pulpit put it nicely earlier on Tuesday:The Lions had a need at nose tackle Marvin Jones Jersey , and one that wasn’t going away any time soon. Ricky Jean Francois wasn’t going to be the answer beyond 2018. So the Lions saw a desperate Giants team, and a 350-pound fit that is locked up through the 2020 season. This wasn’t a “we’re contenders now” move, it was just a solid roster building piece for the next 2.5 seasons. So was it all worth it?Well, if you ask our own Kyle Yost, he thinks this is a brain-over-heart move. If we’re talking about plain value, a third-round pick for Golden Tate is a decent return for an expiring contract and a player who has likely peaked. It was more than the Broncos got for Demaryious Thomas, who is also 30 years old, but much less productive over the past few seasons. But is a third-round pick worth essentially throwing the 2018 season? I’m just not so sure. I wasn’t ready to give up on this team’s chances for the season, no matter how poor their performance was last week. And as much as we all love draft picks, you’ll be lucky to find a starter in the third round. But, compensatory pick? Now, a lot of people—myself included—have rallied against this move on the basis that Detroit could likely pull in at least a fourth-round compensatory pick should they just let him go in free agency. However, that’s a little misleading. The Lions are set to have a boatload of cap room next offseason, meaning they’ll likely be quite active in the free agency process. If that’s the case, the additions are quite likely to offset their losses, and they may not get any compensatory picks despite losing Tate.All that being said, I’m just not sure why everyone was so closed to the idea of extending Tate. Sure, he would’ve required a boost in salary Darius Slay Jersey , but the Lions have all the aforementioned salary cap room, Kenny Golladay is still on a rookie deal, and Tate’s efficiency hasn’t slowed yet. Zac Snyder made a convincing argument for re-signing him here. Not done yet?The only way I’d get behind this trade is if something else is happening behind the scenes before the trade deadline. The trade creates nearly $4 million in cap space, and the Lions also did something else to make some more room: If there’s a big defensive player coming to Detroit, I’ll at least understand this move better. If not, I’m left scratching my head. The offense finished OTAs ahead of the defense." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhitePride Of Detroita Detroit Lions communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsLibraryLionsOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Detroit Lions NewsDetroit Lions NotesDetroit Lions AnalysisDetroit Lions TransactionsDetroit Lions Game RecapsFiled under:Detroit Lions NewsDetroit Lions AnalysisDetroit Lions final OTA observations: Offense finishes strong over defenseNew,17commentsThe offense finished OTAs ahead of the defense. EDTShareTweetShareShareDetroit Lions final OTA observations: Offense finishes strong over defenseRaj Mehta-USA TODAY SportsThe Detroit Lions wrapped up their organized team activities on a cool Thursday morning. We were on hand to watch their final practice before training camp, so here are our final OTA observations for 2019.Participation Practice was a little lighter than normal, and not just because Michael Roberts had been traded to New England. Marvin Jones Jr. and Kenny Golladay remained sidelined from team activities, but on Thursday receivers Tommylee Lewis and Chris Lacy joined them. Both of those depth receivers were injured earlier in the month and neither participated in individual drills on Thursday.The running back squad was equally trimmed, as both Theo Riddick and C.J. Anderson were nowhere to be found. Finally, there were a couple new names on the defensive side of the ball. Starting linebacker Christian Jones did not participate, and appeared to be sporting a slight limp. That left second-round rookie Jahlani Tavai to start at the will linebacker spot all practice. Depth cornerback Marcus Cooper didn’t appear to be present on Thursday. In positive injury news, rookie tight end Isaac Nauta appears to be close to a full return. He didn’t participate in team drills, but he did more during positional drills than I’ve seen in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a full go at the start of training camp.Offensive line updateFor most of the day, the Lions utilized their most recent offensive front: Taylor Decker, Oday Aboushi, Frank Ragnow Matthew Stafford Jersey , Joe Dahl and Rick Wagner. However, during some red zone drills, they were back to having Kenny Wiggins and Graham Glasgow with the ones. Also, newly signed center Luke Bowanko got some playing time with the second-team offense.T.J. Hockenson dominatesAll day, it looked like T.J. Hockenson was unguardable. He was especially lethal in red zone drills, where it looked like he pulled in at least three touchdowns on the day. However, it was fellow tight end Logan Thomas who had one of the best plays of practice. In another goal line drill, Thomas somehow managed to out-jump Tracy Walker’s arms and pull down an impressive catch.It was very easy to see why the Lions moved on from Michael Roberts on Thursday, as Detroit’s tight ends were at their best. However, I did see a couple of drops from Jerome Cunningham.Two big plays If not the Thomas catch, there were two other candidates for Play of the Day. The first came from running back Kerryon Johnson, who burned Tavon Wilson on a route out of the backfield. The pass came up a little short, giving Wilson the opportunity to recover, but Johnson elevated over the safety and pulled down what would’ve been around a 40-yard completion. The other play came from rookie wideout Travis Fulgham, who outjumped Mike Ford for a big completion that drew some noise from the sidelines. The play put the Lions offense in a first-and-goal situation, and to Ford’s credit, he broke up a pass to Fulgham just two plays later. Ty Johnson is, indeed Da’Shawn Hand Jersey , very fastWhile we’re on Lions sixth-round picks, Johnson had an opportunity to get more reps on Thursday with Riddick and Anderson out, and he certainly did make an impression. During one set of plays, Johnson was able to easily outrun the Lions’ second-team defense to the edge and pick up potential big gains.It’s hard to know if Johnson is versatile enough to win a roster spot come September, but he did well for himself on the last day of OTAs.Random notes:During special teams drills, it was neat to see the entire offensive line take a knee in front of a video screen and basically have an impromptu film session of the plays they just ran.Teez Tabor did have another interception on Thursday on an overthrown deep ball from Matthew Stafford. Tabor wasn’t particularly good the rest of practice, however.That interception came on a fourth-and-10 situation from the offense, who just had a brutal set of plays leading up to that moment. In frustration, Danny Amendola threw his helmet from the middle of the end zone all the way to the sidelines. Despite that string of plays, the offense mostly had the defense’s number all morning. After the offense beat the defense on a red zone drill, Kerryon Johnson was visibly teasing Tracy Walker, who had to do burpees with the rest of the defense. Quandre Diggs took a rep as a punt returner, which was the first time I’ve seen that this offseason. Diggs did have two punt returns last season.