NFL teams are eagerly preparing for the 2025 NFL draft – and perhaps none more than the Detroit Lions, who are looking to tool up ahead of a highly anticipated season.
After a historically successful 2024 regular season that ended in playoff disappointment, the Lions secured the 28th overall pick. The draft will begin on Thursday, April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, outside of Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, and will continue until the final rounds on April 26.
The Lions also have picks in the second round (60th overall), third round, fourth round, sixth round, and two in the seventh round. The team's sixth-round pick comes via a previous trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while the earlier of their seventh-round picks comes via a trade with the Dallas Cowboys.
The team's third-round selection came via a compensatory pick after the New York Jets hired former Lion's assistant coach Aaron Glenn as their new head coach, while the team's fifth-round pick was sent to the Cleveland Browns for former defensive end Za'Darius Smith before the 2024 draft. The Lions cut Smith during the 2025 offseason.
Here are the latest projections for how the Lions will use their first-round pick.
USA TODAY: Trade with the Las Vegas Raiders
After previously predicting the Lions would select Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart, USA TODAY now predicts the Lions will trade the 28th overall pick to the Las Vegas Raiders, who they believe will use the pick to draft wide receiver Matthew Golden out of Texas.
That would leave the Lions without a first-round pick for the first time since the 1993 draft, when the Lions traded their first and fourth-round picks to the New Orleans Saints for linebacker Pat Swilling.
