It’s Trade Rumor Sunday, the last full day of games before the annual window for doing deals slams shut. And one player to watch is Lions tight end Eric Ebron.
Although Ian Rapoport of NFL Media has reported that teams are calling the Lions about Ebron (which suggests that Lions aren’t actively shopping him; see Ward, T.J.), a league source with knowledge of the situation says that the Lions are actively shopping Ebron and that they will “almost surely” trade him.
A first-round pick in 2014 (who was selected while both Aaron Donald and Odell Beckham were on the board), Ebron has been a major disappointment, relative to his draft status. The Lions nevertheless exercised his fifth-year option, which means that anyone who trades for him will be saddled with an injury-guaranteed $5.194 million salary for 2018, which becomes fully guaranteed on the first day of the next league year, in March.
After catching 61 passes in 2016, Ebron has only 13 receptions through six games this year, for a mere 102 yards. Which could make it even harder to find a trade partner.