2026 Detroit Lions Offseason Thread

[MichiganCardinal]

After what happened with Ragnow, the Lions kind of deserve something crazy like this to work out in their favor.

2026 2nd and a 2027 3rd for Maxx Crosby, who goes on to set the NFL record for sacks in a Super Bowl against Lamar and the Ravens.

[sagnam]

Lions agree to terms with QB Teddy Bridgewater, CB Rock Ya-Sin

Edited yesterday at 02:51 AM by sagnam

[Motown Bombers]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

TJ has his moments

At Henry Ford we go for it. 

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, Jason_R said:

Big if true. 

This is a troll account.   It’s not real. 

[Motown Bombers]

Are we closing the door on Decker? What if Decker tests the market and realizes he's not worth as much as he thought? 

[MichiganCardinal]

 

That's nothing. If the Lions take a 4th round running back, he's probably on the roster bubble.

[MichiganCardinal]

9 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Are we closing the door on Decker? What if Decker tests the market and realizes he's not worth as much as he thought? 

If we wanted him back at a certain price, I doubt we would shut the door on that price. For Decker it sounded like it was more about pride though.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

26 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

This is a troll account.   It’s not real. 

Yeah, I saw this earlier myself and I already fell for one myself this week. 

[buddha]

why is teddy bridgewater back on this team?

[MichiganCardinal]

4 minutes ago, buddha said:

why is teddy bridgewater back on this team?

If he can’t coach high school football in Florida, holding a clipboard on an NFL sideline is the next best thing.

[buddha]

20 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

If he can’t coach high school football in Florida, holding a clipboard on an NFL sideline is the next best thing.

but he cant play.  make him an assistant coach if you want him on the sideline, why take up a roster spot with him?

[sagnam]

10 minutes ago, buddha said:

but he cant play.  make him an assistant coach if you want him on the sideline, why take up a roster spot with him?

He can’t play just as well as any other backup we’ve had.

[buddha]

9 minutes ago, sagnam said:

He can’t play just as well as any other backup we’ve had.

i doubt that.  if true, find a better backup.

[sagnam]

11 minutes ago, buddha said:

i doubt that.  if true, find a better backup.

I’d like that, but it doesn’t appear to be important to this team. Not sure what the job of the backup QB is here, but it’s not playing QB, that’s for sure.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RedRamage]

8 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Are we closing the door on Decker? What if Decker tests the market and realizes he's not worth as much as he thought? 

I don't think I'd close the door, but he's gonna have to eat a lot of crow if he comes back... not sure he'd be willing to do that. He was very nice and polite about how he said it, but there doesn't seem to be much doubt about what happened: Lions wanted him to take a pay cut and/or be a backup. He didn't feel right about that, now he'd have to come back to Detroit taking a pay cut and/or be a backup.

Maybe I'm putting too much in the wording of his statement, but it doesn't sound like he was terribly happy or understanding of it and just said: "Okay, let's just call it quits now before we start arguing and yelling and ending on a worse note."

If he's said something more like: "The Lions asked me to take a lesser role. While I understand their position from a business stand point I still believe I have many games of high caliber football left in me and I've requested a release to test the FA market." To me that feels more like "I'm gonna shop around but I'm open to coming back if I can't get a better deal."

But again: Y'all know me... I'm probably putting way too much importance on specific phrases and words.

[RedRamage]

56 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

 

And this is why people say the Salary Cap is fake. I mean if you can just so easily adjust a few things and BAM, 32 million (more than 10% of the Salary Cap) is freed up, then I find it hard to argue against those people.

I get the feeling that the Salary Cap rules are as convoluted as the Tax Code is here in the US. It's starting to feel like all the deferrals that are happening in baseball. None of it is real money anymore. It's all just kicking the can down the road and when the road ends? Well, just build more road and kick the can more.

[Motown Bombers]

9 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

And this is why people say the Salary Cap is fake. I mean if you can just so easily adjust a few things and BAM, 32 million (more than 10% of the Salary Cap) is freed up, then I find it hard to argue against those people.

I get the feeling that the Salary Cap rules are as convoluted as the Tax Code is here in the US. It's starting to feel like all the deferrals that are happening in baseball. None of it is real money anymore. It's all just kicking the can down the road and when the road ends? Well, just build more road and kick the can more.

As you can see in the chart, Goff’s cap number went up next year and subsequent years, plus a void year was added. For better or worse, the Lions are married to Goff. This was the issue with the Saints. They anchored themselves to players past their prime and were mediocre for years. 

[Nate7474]

8 hours ago, sagnam said:

I’d like that, but it doesn’t appear to be important to this team. Not sure what the job of the backup QB is here, but it’s not playing QB, that’s for sure.

I believe the organization looks for good locker room guy and someone last who’s very good at the game plan part of the position. I also think Bridgewater did a good job as a mentor to Hooker could be an indicator that the Lions would like to use a mid to late round on a QB lottery ticket and see if it hits. There are some intriguing toolsy QBs out there this year that could be had late and see what happens. 

[Nate7474]

29 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

As you can see in the chart, Goff’s cap number went up next year and subsequent years, plus a void year was added. For better or worse, the Lions are married to Goff. This was the issue with the Saints. They anchored themselves to players past their prime and were mediocre for years. 

Luckily Goff is only 31 and his brand of QB ages a lot better than someone who relies on more athletic abilities. Goff also has been extremely healthy in his career so if that continues there is no reason he won’t be able to play as an above average level or better for this whole contract. The key is not being forced into extending him again because we don’t have any succession plan. 

[gehringer_2]

54 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

And this is why people say the Salary Cap is fake. I mean if you can just so easily adjust a few things and BAM, 32 million (more than 10% of the Salary Cap) is freed up, then I find it hard to argue against those people.

I get the feeling that the Salary Cap rules are as convoluted as the Tax Code is here in the US. It's starting to feel like all the deferrals that are happening in baseball. None of it is real money anymore. It's all just kicking the can down the road and when the road ends? Well, just build more road and kick the can more.

I don't see why people think that because contracts can be restructured, the CAP is fake. If anything, it proves that it's real. The bill still comes due on all those deferrals. If there is a complaint it would be that the CAP keeps going up, which makes deferrals less painful. But that's just because the league keeps making more money (and inflation). But if the league makes more money and today's players that are building that success get to reap some of that benefit, I don't see a problem with that either.

Edited 21 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Stanley70]

It's like buying stuff on a credit card. Sooner or later the lions will have to pay all of the guarentees in Goff's contract. And with this restructuring they are converting some of the base salary due this year, which wasn't guarenteed, into guarenteed money due later on.

[MichiganCardinal]

It’s not the point that was being made, but Goff is nowhere near retirement. He’s probably got 2 or 3 contracts left in him. Doesn’t mean they’ll all be here, but the answer to his cap hit is not going to be “just wait until he retires and draft a rookie!” Anytime soon.

[Hongbit]

26 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I don't see why people think that because contracts can be restructured, the CAP is fake. If anything, it proves that it's real. The bill still comes due on all those deferrals. If there is a complaint it would be that the CAP keeps going up, which makes deferrals less painful. But that's just because the league keeps making more money (and inflation). But if the league makes more money and today's players that are building that success get to reap some of that benefit, I don't see a problem with that either.

A reason that the narrative has gained popularity is the success of a few teams with large amounts of restructured dollars over the past few years.  The Eagles, Chiefs, 49ers, Lions, and Rams are a few.   It seems to be working for almost everyone but the Saints, Cowboys, and Dolphins, who have all put themselves in the laughing stock category of the league.

I will agree the common thought the cap will keep rising so it doesn’t matter isn’t really accurate.  The cap will continue to outpace rising cost of players but the difference between the two isn’t so large.   Contract value has exploded the last 5 years with no signs of stopping.  

The way around it is to draft a young player that can take the place of the aging vet that you are tied too.  That will help offset some of the damage to the cap.  That is much easier said than done. 

FWIW, I’m a firm believer the Lions goal needs to be to at least get to a Super Bowl.  If that crates chaos and 3 win seasons down the road, so be it.  They have to take full advantage of the window they have right now.

Edited 21 hours ago by Hongbit