Lions are open to trading 1st round; Tampa Bay? Washington?

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Lions are willing to trade the number two overall pick if the right combination of draft choices is offered. The most likely scenario is 4th overall Tampa Bay offering to exchange first round picks and throwing in another pick so they can draft wide receiver phenom Calvin Johnson. The Lions have several players targeted, but no one knows who the team will draft. Fortunately, Detroit has enough targets — Johnson, tackle Joe Thomas, quarterback Brady Quinn, defensive end Gaines Adams — that they can get away with exchanging with the Buccaneers.

Another possibility is Washington. The Redskins love to make a splash on draft day, and a move to acquire the number two overall pick would definitely create ripples. Unfortunately, Washington, who picks 6th, might not have the right combination of compensatory picks to get a deal done.

But now we play the waiting game because a deal probably won’t get done until draft day, about 15 minutes in when the Lions are on the clock.