To borrow a phrase from one of my colleagues:WHATJUSTHAPPENED?The Detroit Lions traded away Golden Tate—a centerpiece of their offense for 4.5 years—for a third-round pick.I’ll be honest Womens Marvin Jones Jr Jersey , I didn’t take any of the trade rumors seriously. These kind of things pop up every single year, and although the Lions didn’t show any serious signs of re-signing the 30-year-old receiver, it didn’t make all that much sense to me to ship him, especially after making an aggressive move last week by adding Damon Harrison Sr. to the team. While I’m being honest, it’s hard to get over the emotional loss here. Tate has been a joy to watch on the field, and he’s been one of the most entertaining off it. He’s one of the few members of the locker room that will stand by and talk openly for all 45 minutes of the media session. No bullshit. No coach-speak. He’ll say what’s on his mind and let you sit with it. Even if I wasn’t writing a story about him, I’d often stand there next to him just to hear someone speak candidly for once. But let’s put the emotions aside for a minute and offer my quick thoughts.Are the Lions trying to contend this year or not?Tomorrow, Matt Patricia is expected to talk to the media, as he does every Wednesday. He’ll almost certainly say that this changes nothing about the 2018 season and that the team’s goals remain the same: win the division, win a playoff game, win the championship. Detroit is only a game behind the NFC North lead, and by trading for Damon Harrison Sr.—a 29-year-old defensive tackle—it looked like they were prepared to make a jump towards contender.But this move suggests they’re more concerned about 2019 and beyond. Golden Tate led all Lions receivers in targets, receptions, receiving yards and plays of 20+ yards this season. He’s clearly developed a chemistry with Matthew Stafford, and his loss will undoubtedly send shockwaves through Detroit’s offense. There’s no doubt the team is worse off in 2018 now without Tate, and coming off such a poor performance against the Seahawks, you have to think Detroit could be headed for a long November and December.So what was that “Snacks” trade all about?Well, I think we need to reevaluate what that trade was about. And our friend Brian Phillips from Pats Pulpit put it nicely earlier on Tuesday:The Lions had a need at nose tackle, and one that wasn’t going away any time soon. Ricky Jean Francois wasn’t going to be the answer beyond 2018. So the Lions saw a desperate Giants team Womens Miles Killebrew Jersey , and a 350-pound fit that is locked up through the 2020 season. This wasn’t a “we’re contenders now” move, it was just a solid roster building piece for the next 2.5 seasons. So was it all worth it?Well, if you ask our own Kyle Yost, he thinks this is a brain-over-heart move. If we’re talking about plain value, a third-round pick for Golden Tate is a decent return for an expiring contract and a player who has likely peaked. It was more than the Broncos got for Demaryious Thomas, who is also 30 years old, but much less productive over the past few seasons. But is a third-round pick worth essentially throwing the 2018 season? I’m just not so sure. I wasn’t ready to give up on this team’s chances for the season, no matter how poor their performance was last week. And as much as we all love draft picks, you’ll be lucky to find a starter in the third round. But, compensatory pick? Now, a lot of people—myself included—have rallied against this move on the basis that Detroit could likely pull in at least a fourth-round compensatory pick should they just let him go in free agency. However, that’s a little misleading. The Lions are set to have a boatload of cap room next offseason, meaning they’ll likely be quite active in the free agency process. If that’s the case, the additions are quite likely to offset their losses, and they may not get any compensatory picks despite losing Tate.All that being said, I’m just not sure why everyone was so closed to the idea of extending Tate. Sure, he would’ve required a boost in salary, but the Lions have all the aforementioned salary cap room, Kenny Golladay is still on a rookie deal Womens Devon Kennard Jersey , and Tate’s efficiency hasn’t slowed yet. Zac Snyder made a convincing argument for re-signing him here. Not done yet?The only way I’d get behind this trade is if something else is happening behind the scenes before the trade deadline. The trade creates nearly $4 million in cap space, and the Lions also did something else to make some more room: If there’s a big defensive player coming to Detroit, I’ll at least understand this move better. If not, I’m left scratching my head. 2018 was an interesting season for the Detroit Lions. While the season obviously didn’t go as planned, it was a transitional year for the team. With a new head coach, a new philosophy and a completely different scheme, we saw some players’ impact on the team lessen (Glover Quin, Jalen Reeves-Maybin), but we also saw some players come out of nowhere to make significant contributions. Today, we honor the latter category. Detroit was not short of Breakout Player of the Year candidates, so here are the 2018 nominees for the award.(Note: There were a lot of nominations for rookies that I did not count here. I didn’t include them for two reasons. One, there is a separate Rookie of the Year Award for these players. Two, “breakout” suggests breaking through a personal barrier or setting personal bests. That doesn’t really apply to players’ first years.)Romeo OkwaraOkwara didn’t even start the season with the Lions. Okwara was claimed after the Giants released him during their roster cutdown at the beginning of the regular season. It was a wildly unpopular move among Lions fans, as the team cut fan favorite Anthony Zettel to make room for him.Okwara came to Detroit with just 1.0 sack to his name and four games started in two years. He would end the season with 14 starts and a team-high 7.5 sacks. Okwara wasn’t just productive on the stat sheet, but he was an incredibly reliable player—finishing the season by playing in 716 defensive snaps (72.7%), over 250 more snaps than any other defensive lineman. Devon KennardKennard was Detroit’s “splash” signing in free agency in 2018. His statistical output with the Giants before his time in Detroit was underwhelming—just 9.5 sacks in four years and had never started more than 11 games in a season.However, Kennard was a key piece of the Lions defense. As the stand-up edge setter on the left side of the defense, Kennard was probably the most consistent pass rusher the Lions had, and he finished with a career-high 7.0 sacks. Kenny Golladay(You may want to hit that mute button)We all saw the potential in Kenny Golladay in his rookie year. From the very first game of his career Kerryon Johnson Jersey , it was obvious the lanky wide receiver was capable of eye-popping plays. But injuries and limited opportunities caused him to just produce 477 yards and three touchdowns all year.Entering 2018 as a full starter, Golladay essentially doubled his output, both in stats and highlights. 1,063 receiving yards and five touchdowns later, and we’re talking about Golladay potentially assuming WR1 duties in 2019. Though Golladay occasionally struggled down the stretch when injuries and trades forced him into that No. 1 role, he still looked on his way to making that jump.A’Shawn RobinsonA year ago, we were talking about how A’Shawn Robinson may have been doomed by the Lions’ second-round pick curse. Robinson was sure to make the team, but questions were whether he’d ever live up to his draft stock and whether he’d ever even be a starter. Those worries were only exacerbated when Robinson was a Week 1 scratch, despite being healthy.But Robinson very quickly changed the narrative of his career once he got back in the game. Robinson became a stud run defender, even before Detroit added Damon Harrison Sr. And when the two were paired up, the Lions suddenly emerged as one of the best run-stuffing defenses in the league.Graham GlasgowWhen the Lions drafted Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow’s future was unclear. Would Ragnow stay at center and move Glasgow out? Would Ragnow move to guard? Were the Lions unhappy with Glasgow and already preparing for his replacement?Glasgow responded by having his best season to date, and for the second straight year, he nearly played in every single snap. After literally not missing a single play in 2017, Glasgow only missed one snap last year. According to PFF, Glasgow was the 15th ranked center in the league and sixth in run blocking.