Lions boost pass rush by trading for Everson Griffen

The Detroit Lions have gone out and gotten some help for their pass rush. Fresh off two straight wins to help put Detroit back in the NFC playoff conversation just one game out of the Wild Card at 3-3, Lions general manager Bob Quinn pulled off a trade this week that the team announced today for Dallas Cowboys defensive end Everson Griffen. Griffen will be eligible to join the team’s active roster following completion of the NFL’s COVID-19 entry protocol. Griffen spent his first 10 seasons in the NFL with the Vikings, so Lions fans know him all too well. Of his 77.0 career sacks, 16.0 have come against the Lions. He once hit Stafford seven times in a single contest. Now the veteran will try to notch a few sacks for the Lions.Griffen has 20 tackles and 2.5 sacks in seven games with the Cowboys so far this season. Detroit’s struggled to get consistent pressure on the quarterback this year, but have done a better job in recent weeks. Detroit’s averaged 18 pressures per game the last two weeks in wins over Jacksonville and Atlanta, a big improvement over the 11 pressures they averaged per game over the first month of season when they started 1-3. Defensive end Romeo Okwara leads the Lions with 4.0 sacks and has a forced fumble and a recovered fumble the last two weeks. As a unit, however, the Lions have just eight sacks this season, which are the fifth fewest in the NFL. Griffen, 33, will join Okwara and Trey Flowers as a pass rusher off the edge for the Lions.