Here’s a recap of Lions tidbits over the past couple days, including a trade for a safety, a Kerby Joseph timeline update, a Sam LaPorta contract update, and some intriguing Jack Campbell comments.
Lions trade 2028 (update) 2029 6th-rounder for safety Andre Cisco
Cisco is on a 1-year contract, which makes him a short-term rental. Why would the Lions do this with a healthy Brian Branch, Chuck Clark, and Keith Abney on the roster, and with Kerby Joseph and Thomas Harper (ankle) possibly able to return?
While a late-rounder two three years from now seems like a small price, it’s still something. As a lifelong fan, I’m generally against short-term rentals as I have a long-range outlook for the team. However, if Cisco ends up playing a lot of defensive snaps or even taking a starting role, then it could absolutely be worth it.
The trade might signal bad news for Harper’s ankle, which might be a recurring issue since training camp. Sometimes a tricky Achilles injury is listed as an “ankle”.
More interestingly, what does the trade say about the expectations for Kerby Joseph?
The Lions’ expectations for Kerby have likely been low for a long time, given that he hasn’t played in 13 months and didn’t even open his practice window until midway through this season. If the Lions had high expectations, they would have had him testing things out in the offseason or training camp.
The Lions’ actions show that they are just hoping he can play half a season at best. News dropped today that he is out until Week 11 at least…
Kerby Joseph OUT Week 10 vs the Patriots
Dan Campbell stated on 97.1 today that Kerby is already ruled out for this Sunday in Germany vs. the Patriots. It’s an unusual practice week for the Lions as they are traveling to Germany after Thursday’s practice, although I doubt that was a determining factor.
What is the timeline and outlook for Kerby at this point?
Today is Day 14 of Kerby’s practice window (opened on October 28). That means he will definitely use up his entire 21-day window. At the end of the window, he will need to be activated to the 53-man roster or be out for the season. Just because he is activated to the roster does NOT necessarily mean he will play. He can simply be one of the inactives on gameday until he is ready.
The earliest I would expect Kerby to play is Thanksgiving vs. the Bears. I don’t expect him to play four days prior vs. the Bucs due to the short turnaround.
There remains the realistic possibility that a setback occurs and he does not play this season. All it might take is one hard cut in practice or one wrong hit to the knee for his chronic issue to become aggravated… and his season (and possibly career) to be deemed unsalvageable.
For a recent mailbag Q&A explaining Kerby’s suspected knee cartilage issue, visit…
Jack Campbell states he is determined to play football again
Over the weekend, there were a couple interesting reports regarding Jack’s recovery. Here are my thoughts.
What to make of Jack saying that he’s planning to return to football?
Is there any credence to this report that Jack could return this season?
Sam LaPorta Contract Extension Update
The trade deadline passed and Sam LaPorta is still with the Lions. There isn’t much question that Sam is an elite TE, and the Lions have proven to have no issue with rewarding their elite players with top-of-the-market deals. The likely holdup is a 2025 spine injury - herniated disc with microdiscectomy surgery - that carries a concerning recurrence rate of around 5-15%.
The Lions will want to protect themselves from a salary cap standpoint in case there is a recurrence. If LaPorta ends up signing an extension, it will be interesting to see how the contract is structured. I’m not opposed to extending LaPorta, but would like the contract to protect the Lions to some degree.
I discussed the contract considerations in an earlier Lions Mailbag…
