2026 Detroit Lions Offseason Thread

[Motor City Sonics]

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Hongbit]

Way too young.   Tracy was a quality player on a bunch of pretty good Lions teams.

[lordstanley]

Strong words from the family about CTE and how in their view “the NFL was ultimately the cause of his untimely demise”. Yes, I’m not a fan of sourcing TMZ but it posted the statement unlike some other outlets  

 

[RedRamage]

14 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Strong words from the family about CTE and how in their view “the NFL was ultimately the cause of his untimely demise”. Yes, I’m not a fan of sourcing TMZ but it posted the statement unlike some other outlets  

I think CTE/Brain dAmage is kinda like Climate Change these days... Most people acknowledge that it exists, but there's big questions with many different views about how big of a deal it is, how much the NFL is responsible, and what we should do about it.

I don't think there's any question that the NFL knew about the brain damage dangers earlier and covered it up. I don't know how much they are or aren't trying to cover up information these days, but at the very least I think more people, including players, are aware of it.

I also don't know how much what the NFL (and NCAA) are doing to try to minimize or prevent damage actually does prevent damage, or if it's just window dressing. At least they're trying I guess?

At the very least I think players are going in more aware of the dangers here, which is a positive step.

[gehringer_2]

53 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

I think CTE/Brain dAmage is kinda like Climate Change these days... Most people acknowledge that it exists, but there's big questions with many different views about how big of a deal it is, how much the NFL is responsible, and what we should do about it.

I don't think there's any question that the NFL knew about the brain damage dangers earlier and covered it up. I don't know how much they are or aren't trying to cover up information these days, but at the very least I think more people, including players, are aware of it.

I also don't know how much what the NFL (and NCAA) are doing to try to minimize or prevent damage actually does prevent damage, or if it's just window dressing. At least they're trying I guess?

At the very least I think players are going in more aware of the dangers here, which is a positive step.

The big change is that higher awareness has led to getting guys off the field when they are concussed and keeping them off till they are symptom free.  The clinical question is how much difference does that actually make to whether continued high impact activity still causes long term damage. Maybe a lot, maybe not much. The assumption is that it does,  I don't think the epidemiology exists to adequately resolve that question yet.

[RedRamage]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

The big change is that higher awareness has led to getting guys off the field when they are concussed and keeping them off till they are symptom free.  The clinical question is how much difference does that actually make to whether continued high impact activity still causes long term damage. Maybe a lot, maybe not much. The assumption is that it does,  I don't think the epidemiology exists to adequately resolve that question yet.

Yeah, that's of course the big question... I mean good on the NFL for having new procedures/policies to try to address this. I've heard at least some talk that this doesn't do squat to help, usually without any real evidence. But that makes me wonder/panic a bit whether the NFL knows that this doesn't really do anything and they're just doing it more for show than to really help the players.

Just to be abundantly clear: I have ZERO evidence of this being the case... just idle thoughts and random speculation. The NFL certainly seems to be caring much more about concussions and potential brain injuries and seems to be taking steps to try to improve player safety (concussion protocol, tackling changes, helmet options), so that's a good thing. 

[Shinzaki]

could this benefit Joseph?

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

24 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

could this benefit Joseph?

 

I'd be worried about Joseph's future with the team were he to have a procedure like this. Guys that play full seasons aren't Brad's type of players. LOL, I kid. I kid.

[MichiganCardinal]

May the QuickLane Motor City Pizza Bowl presented by GameAbove Sports rest in peace.

Edited 11 hours ago by MichiganCardinal

[MichiganCardinal]

Since they aren’t allowing 6-6 Northwestern to play 7-5 Central Michigan at Ford Field, maybe now they can stop allowing 3-6 Michigan State and 3-6 Penn State to interrupt the MHSAA championships.

[gehringer_2]

7 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

could this benefit Joseph?

 

here's a link to a more complete story

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/11/joint-cartilage-aging.html

 I would guess the trick here is getting it to grow where you want but not where you don't want.

Edited 6 hours ago by gehringer_2