The Detroit Lions are entering a rebuilding year, not with their roster, but with their coaching staff that’s being ravaged by promotions from outsiders. Ben Johnson has already departed for division rival Chicago, and now defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is also departing to become a head coach.

Today, the New York Jets named Glenn as their new head coach, replacing Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich. Glenn was the Jets’ 1994 first-round draft pick. The agressive former Texas A&M corner played eight of his 15 seasons with New York.

Glenn had his ups & downs this season as the Lions’ defensive coordinator, but had to navigate over 20 players, many of them key starters, on injured reserve. Whether or not he will call plays for the Jets’ defense is not known at this time, but one thing that’s for certain is the fact that Glenn has a quality that is most important for a head coach. He is vocal, he is energetic, and he is a leader. He should be able to instantly change the culture when he takes over, and if they build the right roster around him, I believe he will be very successful as a head coach in the NFL.

Detroit may have a vacancy at defensive coordinator now, but they did gain something when Glenn was hired as a head coach. Teams in the NFL receive a draft pick when they hire a black coach as part of the “Rooney Rule,” a league policy designed to incentivize teams to develop and hire minority coaches by awarding compensatory picks when a team loses a minority coach or executive to another team in a head coaching or general manager role, essentially rewarding them for cultivating diverse talent within their organization. Detroit has acquired a third-round pick, something they didn’t have prior to Glenn’s hiring, in both the 2025 and 2026 drafts. How will they use that newly acquired pick in this draft? I believe I know what they should do with it.

The Lions should use the new pick to trade up in round one

One thing about Brad Holmes is that if there is a player he loves, he won’t sit still and give too many teams the option to take him off the board. He’s had a lot of success when making deals to move around in the first two rounds of the draft. For example, he traded back from the sixth overall pick to the 12th overall pick a couple years ago and was able to draft Jahmyr Gibbs with his first selection in the draft and use the pick he gained from Arizona to draft Sam LaPorta in round two. He was even able to fleece the Green Bay Packers by trading up to draft Brian Branch on day two. Last year, he moved up in the draft to fill a big need with the selection of Terrion Arnold.

I believe this new pick is ammunition to once again trade up and fill a need. If that happens, and Holmes strikes a deal to move up the board, it should be for one of the top defensive lineman in the draft. There are plenty of EDGE rushers available, but I hope Brad takes this opportunity to snag one of the best interior defensive lineman in round one. Mason Graham will be long gone, but he may have a shot at either Kenneth Grant, Walter Nolen, or Derrick Harmon. Either of those players would fill the void of Alim McNeil’s injury while he recovers and would improve the Lions’ pass rush.