2026 Detroit Lions Offseason Thread

[1984Echoes]

16 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I haven’t seen our friend Melifonwu sign anywhere. Could be good safety depth. 

Another guy I'd love to bring back to the Lions.

[Longgone]

24 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

We had the best 1-2 combo of RBs in the league. The only ones in my mind that came close to this were Walker/Charbonnet in Seattle and Robinson/Algiers in Atlanta. So we got spoiled thinking we could have damn 2, thousand yard rushers on a team and having two RB #1s on our roster. While Pacheco is a downgrade from Montgomery, almost everyone we could have realistically signed would have been. Pacheco has had seasons of over 900 yards and 7 TDs. He didn't look good last year for sure, but almost no one on KC's offense looked to be worth a damn. Their offense was bottom 20 for most of the season and didn't look that great before Mahomes went down. So I'm not putting to much of the burden their on Pacheco. He's 27, so he is getting old in RB years, but I don't think he's washed yet. On a 1-2 year deal at the right price, this could be a good value. I would have preferred Rico Dowdle to Pacheco, but he was signed already. We also weren't about to pay Canine what Kansas City is likely paying him and he probably wouldn't have signed here to split carries again aanywa

He's slow, isn't shifty or elusive, his instincts aren't great and he's dinged up. Whatever reps the #2 back gets, I'd like them to be more of a threat.  

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

... Presuming Vaki is the new return man?

That's an interesting thought also...

Especially the kickoff returns as they are currently constructed...

[1984Echoes]

36 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

I hope I'm wrong but Pacheco seems kind of cooked after all of his injuries.  Doesn't seem to have the same speed and doesn't force missed tackles.

He hasn't been the same since he broke his fibula...

But this will be his 3rd year after that so if he's going to get back to any explosiveness that he used to have...

Now would be the time

So...

We'll see.

[MichiganCardinal]

This is frustrating. I would have given him more than this. He’s a really good OT and it’s a bad, bad idea if they are planning to go into the draft without a second starting offensive tackle (unless they really think Borom should start).

Rasheed Walker is still out there but likely outside the Lions’ budget. Same for Trent Williams if the Niners move on. Trent Brown is available, but is effectively Decker 2.0 between age and injury concerns. Cam Robinson is no better than Borom. Blah.

 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

53 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

This is frustrating. I would have given him more than this. He’s a really good OT and it’s a bad, bad idea if they are planning to go into the draft without a second starting offensive tackle (unless they really think Borom should start).

Rasheed Walker is still out there but likely outside the Lions’ budget. Same for Trent Williams if the Niners move on. Trent Brown is available, but is effectively Decker 2.0 between age and injury concerns. Cam Robinson is no better than Borom. Blah.

I'm disappointed by this as well. Smith is a good tackle, strong against the run, and didn't cost that much. We could have afforded this contract for sure. Up to now, Jedrick Willis has been at the top of my list because he has the injury history that results in the financial value that Brad likes. But Smith and Vera-Tucker would have been other nice options. I cannot imagine they want Manu to start at tackle, either side. They haven't exactly spoke glowingly of him. I believe Willis and also Jack Conklin are still out there to sign. Conklin is no better than Decker though at this point.

I've have a sneaking suspicion that Decker COULD be on his way back to Detroit. He tests the market, realizes there isn't one for him at the price and term he wants, and then he comes crawling back to Brad and Dan asking for a 1 year deal.

Edited 43 minutes ago by Mr.TaterSalad

[sagnam]

58 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

This is frustrating. I would have given him more than this. He’s a really good OT and it’s a bad, bad idea if they are planning to go into the draft without a second starting offensive tackle (unless they really think Borom should start).

Rasheed Walker is still out there but likely outside the Lions’ budget. Same for Trent Williams if the Niners move on. Trent Brown is available, but is effectively Decker 2.0 between age and injury concerns. Cam Robinson is no better than Borom. Blah.

 

“Smith has dealt with multiple injury issues over the last few years. He has not played a full slate of games since 2019, when he started all 16. He played 16 games in 2022 as well. But in the last three seasons, he’s started 10, 12, and 13 games for Indianapolis.“

[buddha]

59 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

This is frustrating. I would have given him more than this. He’s a really good OT and it’s a bad, bad idea if they are planning to go into the draft without a second starting offensive tackle (unless they really think Borom should start).

Rasheed Walker is still out there but likely outside the Lions’ budget. Same for Trent Williams if the Niners move on. Trent Brown is available, but is effectively Decker 2.0 between age and injury concerns. Cam Robinson is no better than Borom. Blah.

 

Its a great tackle class and the lions are going to draft one in the first round.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

13 minutes ago, buddha said:

Its a great tackle class and the lions are going to draft one in the first round.

They're going to draft the best player available on their board that they give a first round grade too. If they don't believe that a tackle has a first round grade and another player, at a different position, has a first round grade and is their BPA, they are taking that player. They don't draft for need generally and lean towards BPA. Last year's draft is the closest been to drafting for need.

[sagnam]

5 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

They're going to draft the best player available on their board that they give a first round grade too. If they don't believe that a tackle has a first round grade and another player, at a different position, has a first round grade and is their BPA, they are taking that player. They don't draft for need generally and lean towards BPA. Last year's draft is the closest been to drafting for need.

Outside of a few exceptions early in the draft, I don’t believe that the grading system is that finely tuned. There is just no objective way to differentiate players from different positions. At their pick they will likely have players clumped and they will choose one who plays a position they need from that pool of players. It’s possible that someone they had in a higher rated group last beyond the rest of their group, and historically that’s when Brad decides to trade up.

[Motown Bombers]

10 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

They're going to draft the best player available on their board that they give a first round grade too. If they don't believe that a tackle has a first round grade and another player, at a different position, has a first round grade and is their BPA, they are taking that player. They don't draft for need generally and lean towards BPA. Last year's draft is the closest been to drafting for need.

Terrion Arnold was drafting for need. 

[sagnam]

Also, if the only remaining players in the tier are positions the Lions don’t need (RB and QB, for example) then the Lions would possibly explore trading back.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

3 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Terrion Arnold was drafting for need. 

But he was also the BPA on their board most likely. They traded up to get him so they clearly valued him highly and did what they needed to get him.