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 Tuesday at 09:51 PM 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 Wednesday at 03:29 AM by gehringer_2

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RedRamage]

19 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

could this benefit Joseph?

 

No particular special knowledge here, but I seriously doubt it. Generally stuff like this is experimental and needs more testing and refinement before it'll reach the masses. My guess is that it'll still be a few years at least before it's available to the public.

[Shinzaki]

In the United states..sure...elsewhere?  All you need is one country with the right rules...:)

[RedRamage]

6 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

In the United states..sure...elsewhere?  All you need is one country with the right rules...:)

Yes but... at what potential risk? Obviously it's gonna REALLY depend on the situation. Like let's pretend that Joseph's condition is so bad he can't play anymore... he's 25 right now and potentially could make many millions more if he got back to even 90% of what he was. We'll, then it's probably worth the risk of trying something not fully tested because it's not like he's got any NFL career left in our senario.

But what he can still play, just may not quite as well as he was? Maybe he's down to 80% of his peak. He's still gonna make a LOT of money... not as much as 90 or 100% Joseph, but still a LOT. If he risks an untested procedure he might get back to 90 or 100% and make even more... or it might fail he goes down to 40 or 50% Joseph and ends up not being good enough to stay in the NFL.

So yeah, it'll massively depend on the individual and their current condition.

Now, having said that I read through the article that @gehringer_2 linked above and there's mention of some early phase clinical trials already underway with, I'm assuming, humans given that it references volunteers and lab animals don't generally volunteer. So I might be way off on how close this is to the market.

Completely outside of the world of sports... I'm SUPER excited about this news as someone who already has some joint pain issues and some arthritis problems.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Hongbit]

Any Alim restructuring should be off the table for the moment.  He needs to prove he’s part of the long term before thinking about extending.   Hopefully last year was a one off due to injury.  Even more hopefully, Brad doesn’t love his guys so much that he thinks this same way and extends him now.

Goff will 100% get restructured soon.   Doing ASB and/or Penai now will come down to how active they are in free agency and what extensions look like for Gibbs and Campbell.  

My gut tells me they will be very active in the offseason with some bigger deals and will need most of that money. 

Edited Thursday at 01:37 PM by Hongbit

[Stanley70]

They have 6 positions in the starting lineup they need to fill by either resigning last years starter or replacing with a FA : LT, C, Edge, WLB, S and CB. They can't fill all of those positions on the cheap or the the draft so i agree they will have to create a bunch of cap space. They can do some financial shenanigins, but they seem to like to keep that to a minimum.

Plus they need to add depth at numerous positions, although some or most of that can be done with lower cost guys.

[Sports_Freak]

On 2/12/2026 at 8:36 AM, Hongbit said:

Any Alim restructuring should be off the table for the moment.  He needs to prove he’s part of the long term before thinking about extending.   Hopefully last year was a one off due to injury.  Even more hopefully, Brad doesn’t love his guys so much that he thinks this same way and extends him now.

Goff will 100% get restructured soon.   Doing ASB and/or Penai now will come down to how active they are in free agency and what extensions look like for Gibbs and Campbell.  

My gut tells me they will be very active in the offseason with some bigger deals and will need most of that money. 

Free Press this morning is doing more Montgomery trade speculating. I would hate to see him go but he's way too expensive as a backup. And their point kinda makes sense, having blocking schemes for both Gibbs and Montgomery may be too much for our O-line. We could get a 3rd and 5th for him, as well as cap relief? A Gibbs injury could be a disaster if we trade Monty.

[Motown Bombers]

Could be a good fit next to Hutchinson.

 

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Free Press this morning is doing more Montgomery trade speculating. I would hate to see him go but he's way too expensive as a backup. And their point kinda makes sense, having blocking schemes for both Gibbs and Montgomery may be too much for our O-line. We could get a 3rd and 5th for him, as well as cap relief? A Gibbs injury could be a disaster if we trade Monty.

I still think moving on from Montgomery is a terrible idea. It was a terrible idea last season to phase him out of the offense as well. He is a gritty runner but he is also an explosive runner.

The bigger issue behind all this is that he was probably underused less because they were trying to phase him out and more because the running game was so inefficient that they didn’t have as many carries to go around. Petzing will fix this and should pound the table to keep him. 

[Sports_Freak]

3 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

I still think moving on from Montgomery is a terrible idea. It was a terrible idea last season to phase him out of the offense as well. He is a gritty runner but he is also an explosive runner.

The bigger issue behind all this is that he was probably underused less because they were trying to phase him out and more because the running game was so inefficient that they didn’t have as many carries to go around. Petzing will fix this and should pound the table to keep him. 

Agreed. If he's unhappy about not being used enough, I could see him requesting a trade. We would be a weaker running team without him. The salary cap money better used at more needed positions? IDK, it would depend which players we could sign. Beefing up the OL should be a priority.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Agreed. If he's unhappy about not being used enough, I could see him requesting a trade. We would be a weaker running team without him. The salary cap money better used at more needed positions? IDK, it would depend which players we could sign. Beefing up the OL should be a priority.

Yes, if he demands a trade, they will not block him, but I suspect they are already talking to him about their plan to increase his usage next year.

I doubt they are relying on him to address their cab situation. But I have a hard time seeing Taylor Decker returning. Unless he has had a miraculous recovery, I think they have to cut him and use the dollars to sign someone like Zeitler to shore up one of the OG spots if they shift Ratledge to C, or to sign a C. Then draft a potential replacement for Decker and have him compete with Manu. 

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, Jason_R said:

Yes, if he demands a trade, they will not block him, but I suspect they are already talking to him about their plan to increase his usage next year.

I doubt they are relying on him to address their cab situation. But I have a hard time seeing Taylor Decker returning. Unless he has had a miraculous recovery, I think they have to cut him and use the dollars to sign someone like Zeitler to shore up one of the OG spots if they shift Ratledge to C, or to sign a C. Then draft a potential replacement for Decker and have him compete with Manu. 

I say keep Monty, and sign a center. Keep Ratledge at right guard. And yes. Decker looks finished. Even if he says he's healthy, the Lions need an upgrade. We really can't afford to keep getting Goff hit so often. I really have a lot of trust in Brad on acquiring the players MCDC needs.