Dan Campbell joined the Wealthy Eisen Present and defined why he thinks the commerce is correct for each the Detroit Lions and Jeff Okuda.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell joined the “Wealthy Eisen Present” on Thursday for his first public look for the reason that group traded former first-round decide Jeff Okuda to the Atlanta Falcons for a fifth-round decide. Naturally, the subject got here up early in the course of the interview.
Campbell’s reply to why they traded Okudah centered across the offseason, the Lions constructed a secondary by signing Cameron Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley and CJ Gardner-Johnson.
“We knew we wished to improve the secondary and we have been pleased with the upgrades we made, man,” Campbell informed Eisen. “Bringing in Sutton and Moseley after which getting Cy Johnson from Philadelphia, we really feel like we have actually strengthened that space. And we nonetheless acquired Jerry Jacobs, we acquired Will Harris again. So we now have a band and we felt fairly good concerning the additions we made.”
That left Okuda, who can be value greater than $10 million this season, prone to come off the bench in 2023. And on condition that he completed final season on the bench, it is affordable to imagine that Okuda won’t even be the first backup. Exterior on the group behind Mosley, Sutton and Jacobs.
Though the Lions did not save a ton of cash. With the commerce coming in at $5.5 million, plus the Lions reportedly taking $1.5 million of his 2023 wage to facilitate the commerce, Campbell mentioned the transfer was the perfect for either side.
“We actually felt like this was in all probability the perfect factor for us and Jeff at this level,” Campbell mentioned. “A contemporary change of surroundings and provides her a contemporary begin. We felt actually good about our guys. And, look, man, I recognize Jeff. Jeff was a professional, he got here to work, he busted his ass. Man, he is been engaged on it, and he was injured final 12 months, and we simply felt.
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