2026 Detroit Lions Offseason Thread

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I’ll say worse since Swift only netted a 4th and he was younger and more explosive. Montgomery also doesn’t have a cheap contract. They may not have a trading partner at all. 

I was looking at teams that had crappy records (lack of leadership and/or toughness), crappy RB's, and an excess (2 or 3 or so) of 4th or 5th round picks.

I settled on the Raiders, Browns and Cardinals.

I'm holding out hope...

[MichiganCardinal]

With their recommitment to the run and that being their identity, I wouldn't be shocked if they make a run at Tyler Linderbaum. He'd be pricy, but if you want a Ragnow replacement he's as close as you're going to get.

[Motown Bombers]

51 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

I really like Paye and Bush.

Couple of UM guys who might be happy to come home to the Lions and contend for Super Bowls and they address DE and OLB needs...

Paye did line up opposite Hutchinson at Michigan. 

[Motown Bombers]

28 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

With their recommitment to the run and that being their identity, I wouldn't be shocked if they make a run at Tyler Linderbaum. He'd be pricy, but if you want a Ragnow replacement he's as close as you're going to get.

I have my doubts he makes it to free agency. Either he signs an extension with Baltimore or gets franchised. 

[Jason_R]

The articles I’ve read seemed to point to Baltimore keeping Linderbaum. Declining his fifth year option was not because they don’t want him but because they intend to renegotiate. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

18 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

FA Centers may cost way too much ($18M AAV for the best one?), so turn to the draft.

Unless Ragnow wants to come back?

I think Tackles are the same situation.

FA money for those two positions is ridiculous.

I say... Draft OC and OT.

IMO.

We've got to break the bank somewhere in free agency and as much as I've wanted it to be for an Edge Rusher/DE, this past season proved that it clearly needs to be on the offensive line. I don't want our offensive line next year to be Sewell plus two rookies, plus two second year players. I want another veteran presence on the line assuming Decker retires or is cut.

[Motown Bombers]

Breaking the bank in free agency means you lose someone like Gibbs, Laporta, Campbell, Branch. 

[MichiganCardinal]

If Baltimore wants to re-sign Linderbaum they're running out of time. Free agency starts in five weeks. It probably doesn't help that they just fired their head coach and brought in a defensive guy, who still hasn't hired an offensive staff. Maybe they'll make it happen, but I think it would be negligent for the Lions to not talk to him if he hits the open market.

Not for nothing, Linderbaum is an Iowa guy. He, Campbell, and LaPorta were all there together.

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

Breaking the bank in free agency means you lose someone like Gibbs, Laporta, Campbell, Branch. 

I don't think it's quite this straightforward, but even supposing it is, the Branch situation has to be fluid, no? Hell, maybe LaPorta too. Who knows what an Achilles or back injury will bring?

I don't think they should be reckless, but if you can get a guy like Linderbaum for 3 years at $54MM, which would match Creed Humphrey but not make him the highest paid center ever, I think you have to consider it. Is that $18MM APY you now don't have to re-sign guys? Yes, but you also now have one of the best in the league at a position of need. Before his injury, Branch was on a trajectory to demand even more than that (something closer to the 4/86 Kerby got). I would rather sign Linderbaum and draft Branch's eventual replacement than sit on our hands hoping to re-sign injured guys who never return to form.

[MichiganCardinal]

16 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I have my doubts he makes it to free agency. Either he signs an extension with Baltimore or gets franchised. 

FWIW regarding the franchise tag, the offensive line is non-positional. So Baltimore would really be paying him LT money, somewhere between $27-28MM. I don't think that's realistic, it's either they sign him to an extension or someone else does.

Edited 3 hours ago by MichiganCardinal

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Sans maybe Creed Humphrey and Zach Fraizer (who many Lions fans including me wanted to draft), Linderbaum is a top 3 center in the league. He's also only going to be 26 years old when the season starts. If we can get a tackle in the draft on the cheap, then I'm willing to pay Linderbaum and make him one of the highest paid at his position in the league. I don't necessarily think paying Linderbaum means we loose a Jack Campbell or Brian Branch long-term because we have the ability to restructure. But I would be ok with losing one of them over a guy like Linderbaum.

Offensive line positions are some of the most important on any team because you're protecting your most valued asset in a QB. When you don't have a mobile QB, who can create plays with his feet, make people miss, and give himself space outside the pocket, it's all the more important you have a rock solid line. When you have a QB whose success is predicated on a clean pocket with timing to look off multiple reads and setup play action, your line is that much more of an asset to the team. I'll take a chance on drafting a linebacker or safety somewhere in the second round or later, versus going with the offensive line we had last year. Give me Linderbaum or give me liberty!

[Motown Bombers]

The Lions are literally over the cap with a chunk of their roster getting more expensive the next several years plus others they need to extend. 

[Hongbit]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Breaking the bank in free agency means you lose someone like Gibbs, Laporta, Campbell, Branch. 

I think it could work if they release Decker and then draft a RT early that can start.   The money saved on Decker combined with paying the rookie scale and they can probably mitigate adding $5-7 million over the next  4 years of Linderbum.  

[Hongbit]

4 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

The Lions are literally over the cap with a chunk of their roster getting more expensive the next several years plus others they need to extend. 

Cap Hell is out there but it can be pushed back 3 or 4 year and possibly avoided all together by using planned restructuring and getting lucky with the cap increasing faster than player salaries.  

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

FWIW regarding the franchise tag, the offensive line is non-positional. So Baltimore would really be paying him LT money, somewhere between $27-28MM. I don't think that's realistic, it's either they sign him to an extension or someone else does.

https://ravenswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/ravens/2025/04/30/ravens-tyler-linderbaum-fifth-year-option-decline/83368508007/

Yes, the fifth year option was going to cost them about $24 million. They want him back but for something more like what Ragnow was getting paid. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

4 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Cap Hell is out there but it can be pushed back 3 or 4 year and possibly avoided all together by using planned restructuring and getting lucky with the cap increasing faster than player salaries.  

I think we all except over the next couple of offseasons that all of Goff, St. Brown, Sewell, and quite possibly Hutch will be restructured. Plus, we'll have guys like Anzalone, Decker, and Reader coming off the books. The cap doesn't exist in a vacuum either. It too will change, it will go up, and our financial outlook will change. I don't think making one major free agent signing is going to turn us into the Saints or transform us back to where we were when Mayhew and Lewand had all that dead cap money on the books from Calvin, Stafford, and Suh that hurt us for a few years.

[Motown Bombers]

As it stands, they are $7 million over the cap. That is even after rolling over $20 million. Had they signed someone like Zeitler to the $9 million he got with Tennessee, that would be $16 million they would be over this year. Even these one year deals have future impacts. The easiest right now is to restructure Goff. Lions can create $43 million in cap space. That also means you are committed to Goff for at least the next three years but I think the Lions are fine with that. Releasing Decker gets you another $12 million. Releasing Glasgow gets you another $5 million. That puts you at about $57 million in cap space. Now you got some free agents you may want to re-sign like Robertson, Anzalone, Lopez, Muhammad. Keep in mind that even if you don't extend Gibbs and Campbell, if you pick up their 5th year options, they are do for significant raises. You also want to re-sign Laporta and possibly Branch. Guys like Hutchinson and Sewell and St Brown are in for raises. That cap space will dry up quickly. 

[Motown Bombers]

4 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

I think we all except over the next couple of offseasons that all of Goff, St. Brown, Sewell, and quite possibly Hutch will be restructured. Plus, we'll have guys like Anzalone, Decker, and Reader coming off the books. The cap doesn't exist in a vacuum either. It too will change, it will go up, and our financial outlook will change. I don't think making one major free agent signing is going to turn us into the Saints or transform us back to where we were when Mayhew and Lewand had all that dead cap money on the books from Calvin, Stafford, and Suh that hurt us for a few years.

Exactly, it doesn't exist in a vacuum. That's why the Lions have been smart and planning this out for several years in advance. You don't think they don't know the cap will go up? It's why we are starting to see the cap hits for Goff, Sewell and St Brown start to go up. 

[Hongbit]

Sewell and ASB can also be easily restructured.  The contracts were most likely set up that way just for this purpose.  That’s another $36M. 

Alim and Reed can also be restructured but I’m not sure they should want to extend either player any longer at this point.   

[Mr.TaterSalad]

4 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Exactly, it doesn't exist in a vacuum. That's why the Lions have been smart and planning this out for several years in advance. You don't think they don't know the cap will go up? It's why we are starting to see the cap hits for Goff, Sewell and St Brown start to go up. 

Right, they do know. They also know they have the options to restructure deals and defer cap hits onto later years. You can be smart with your cap space and still utilize the restructure process.

[Motown Bombers]

4 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Sewell and ASB can also be easily restructured.  The contracts were most likely set up that way just for this purpose.  That’s another $36M. 

Alim and Reed can also be restructured but I’m not sure they should want to extend either player any longer at this point.   

Sewell you would probably want to restructure next year or the year after. St Brown probably 2029 at which point you may just sign him to an extension. 

[Motown Bombers]

4 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Right, they do know. They also know they have the options to restructure deals and defer cap hits onto later years. You can be smart with your cap space and still utilize the restructure process.

You cannot restructure contracts in perpetuity. 

[Motown Bombers]

Restructuring is also not free money. Restructuring Goff frees up a lot of cap space but you are spreading it out and tacking on void years. You are basically stuck with Goff for the next three years at least. Given he's 31 and probably has several more years of prime, the Lions will be fine with that. Restructuring someone like McNeil I would hesitate. He's a big man coming off a serious knee injury and didn't look good. I'm not sure I want to chain myself to him right now. Sewell and St Brown are pretty safe restructure candidates. Again, there is risk to restructuring. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

1 minute ago, Motown Bombers said:

You cannot restructure contracts in perpetuity. 

I think we all collectively recognize though that three of their most expensive, cap costly contracts can and likely will be restructured over the next 2-3 offseasons. Goff, St. Brown, and Sewell are all ripe for restructured deals that would clear cap space. Come 2028 or 2029, Hutch may be in the same situation, where he gets a restructure and extension.

I don't disagree with you that all of this moving money around may cost us a Campbell or Branch or LaPorta. You're probably correct that there will be a cap casualty. But if that means we have an anchor on our offensive line or even a dynamic pass rusher for it, I'm ok with it. I'm ok with it because of the positional value I believe those guys would bring over a safety or a inside/MLB.

[Stanley70]

The cap situation also highlights why it is important to draft depth. They do not have any young talent ready to step in at S, WLB, Edge, TE, C or LT. Trading all of the thirds and fourth round picks are coming back to bite them this year.

[Motown Bombers]

So the Vikings are $40 million over the cap and they don’t have someone like Goff they can restructure. They also don’t have a lot of draft picks. Everyone may be available from Darrisaw to Jefferson to Greenard.