The Detroit Lions didn’t make a move for a pass-rusher ahead of the NFL trade deadline, but could add a player opposite star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson in the relatively near future.
Jermaine Johnson II of the New York Jets was on the trade block, but the asking price of a second-round pick proved too high for any of the teams in the market for an edge-rusher. It is unclear if the Lions were among the interested suitors, but Moe Moton of Bleacher Report predicted they will be come the offseason.
“On this year’s deadline day, [GM Darren] Mougey traded two recent All-Pro players in cornerback Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams for premium draft capital and wide receiver help,” Moton wrote on Thursday, November 6. “Johnson, who earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2023 but has struggled to stay healthy over the last two seasons, shouldn’t get comfortable in New York. If Mougey uses one of his early-round 2026 picks on an edge-rusher to complement Will McDonald IV, Johnson could be on the move late spring or in the summer.”
Lions Second in NFL in Sacks Halfway Through Season
GettyDetroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
Detroit entered the season without a proven second edge-rusher alongside Hutchinson, but has done far better than critics might have expected through nine weeks of the season.
The Lions are second in the NFL with 28 total sacks. Detroit has done well creating pressure via the blitz, with Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes each totaling four sacks apiece. Defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, who has never been a regular starter in 101 games (36 starts), has also matched his career-high total in sacks with six of them through just eight contests played in 2025.
Hutchinson leads the pack with seven sacks, which has set the tone for a pass-rush that has wildly out-performed expectations but brings questions about the sustainability of the pace of pressures the Lions have been able to muster halfway through the year.
Jets’ Price for Jermaine Johnson Too High at Trade Deadline, Next Offseason
GettyNew York Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II.
Johnson was a first-round pick of the Jets (No. 26 overall) in 2022 and is in the fourth year of his $13 million rookie contract. The team exercised its fifth-year option on Johnson, which pays him $13.4 million in 2026.
He put up 7.5 sacks in his Pro Bowl season in 2023 but has tallied just one sack since in seven total games. Johnson played just two games because of injury last season and has appeared in only five of eight contests this year.
The injury issues and lack of production since entering the NFL should explain why no team interested in a pass-rusher was willing to part with a second-round pick to land Johnson at the deadline.
That said, a mid-season deal with a playoff-contending team that needs an upgrade can push a franchise into making a trade that may not make sense from a true value perspective. Emotions cool in the offseason, when Johnson will be 27 years old and making eight-figures, so Moton’s notion of a second-round pick plus Day 3 considerations seems like an overpay on the Lions’ side of the equation.
Detroit will probably look into an edge-rusher come March when Muhammad and Marcus Davenport (IR) both become free agents, though a trade for Johnson doesn’t make sense at the price Moton suggests. The Lions can look at free agency or the draft for options if the Jets’ price on Johnson doesn’t go down.
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