NFL analyst says the Lions made one of the worst trades of the offseason

I'll be fully honest with you guys, when the Detroit Lions made this trade, my initial thoughts were negative about the move . As time went by and I got to dig into the numbers, the film and see him talk, my thoughts have completely changed. The Lions made the right move when they traded for cornerback Carlton Davis.

Not everyone feels that way though. Pro Football Network's Tony Catalina has the trade graded as one of the five worst trades of the offseason

Just for a refresher, the deal had the Lions sending a 2024 third-round pick to the Buccaneers for Carlton Davis, a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick. Here's Catalina's thoughts:

"The Lions are a good football team that was close to a Super Bowl appearance last season. So, it makes sense for them to attack what many view as a weak spot by adding veteran CB Carlton Davis.

However, Davis has been an oft-injured player over the last few years, and 2023 wasn’t his best statistical year.

Maybe a change of scenery will do him good, but with Detroit’s approach to free agency and the draft, they may have been better served giving a younger guy a shot at winning a job."

Alright, lets take a look at what Catalina was thinking here. We'll start with the injuries. It is true, Davis has missed four or more games in the last three seasons. There's no getting around that. The Lions are taking a bit of risk here with a guy that has been hurt.

On the youth front, I wouldn't say that Davis is old. He's 28-years-old and is an experienced CB1. The Lions could have taken the chance and given that spot to a younger corner, but that didn't work out for them last season. So going with a stable option and letting the first-round rookie take the other spot is the way to go this year.

In terms of his numbers, Davis didn't have his best season last year, but he had four solid consecutive seasons before that and last year wasn't all that bad. Davis had two picks and nine pass breakups. He allowed a 64.6% reception rate.

If he can get back to the 54.4% he had in 2022, the Lions are in good shape. Either way, it's better than Cameron Sutton's 67.4% and Jerry Jacobs' 66.2.

I'm not going to say this was an A+ move for the Lions, it's not. It's not a sure thing and there is some relying on Davis to get back to form. Catalina gave the trade a C+. I give it solid B. We'll come back after the season and see how it turns out.

Related: Final Detroit Lions 53-man roster, depth chart and practice squad projection ahead of training camp