The Detroit Lions Are Betting the Season on a Great Draft
They made no major moves in free agency, despite Brad Holmes saying they spent all they could
With weeks to go until the 2026 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions have fans scratching their heads. The free agency period began on March 11 and their lack of urgency to do anything other than sign depth players has been very noticeable. Each time a new signing comes across the ticker, even the most diehard fans wonder who the person is and what position they play.
Coming off an injury-riddled and disappointing 9-8 season, even hiring new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing was puzzling, the beginning of the boring trend that has been the Lions offseason so far. They refused to give up draft capital and didn’t enter the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes for a much-needed game-changing edge rusher opposite of star Aiden Hutchinson. Instead, they’ve opted for guys like D.J. Wonnum and Payton Turner, who didn’t play a down last season.
The only trade they made was sending David Montgomery to the Houston Texans for a 2026 4th rounder, a 2027 7th rounder, and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs. This is a great haul for a veteran running back like Montgomery, but Scruggs has not played up to his potential since he was drafted in the second round by the Texans in 2023 and will not replace left tackle Taylor Decker.
Decker started 145 games for the Lions during his tenure and, according to ESPN.com, his spot is currently being held by Larry Borom, who was signed from Miami. Borom is a Brother Rice alum who went to school at Missouri but has never been a full-time starter since being drafted in 2021.
One of the few players most fans didn’t have to do a search on was Montgomery’s replacement, Isiah Pacheco, who was signed to a 1-year deal. Pacheco is a bigger name due to playing with the Kansas City Chiefs; however, he ranked near the bottom of most rushing metrics for backs with over 100 attempts last season, via Warren Sharp.
Their biggest signing by far comes at center when they announced Cade Mays would be replacing Graham Glasgow after signing a 3-year, $25 million early on in the free agent period. The Lions struggled mightily at center last season, so this is a solid addition to help protect Jared Goff and make holes for Jahmyr Gibbs.
Being able to put up points has never really been a problem for the Lions the last few seasons, but stopping teams has. Their current linebacking core consists of Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Trevor Nowaske, and free-agent signing Damone Clark… and that’s it. No other linebackers are even on the roster.
The secondary has even more question marks.
Brian Branch ruptured his Achilles late last year so won’t be available to start the season, and Kirby Joseph’s knee has been a problem for quite some time. Terrion Arnold has been a disappointment, plus his troubling offseason raises questions as to why Lions GM Brad Holmes has been so quiet. He did add Roger McCreary and Christian Izien, but these are not big splashes.
Even if the Lions do make more roster moves before the draft, the players available are old and/or broken down.
They do hold nine draft picks for the 2026 draft, but even if every pick is a hit and those rookies can contribute immediately, they still need more bodies to plug-in in case of injuries. With Holmes last two drafts being largely failures, the pressure is higher than ever to find guys that fit in within the organization.
Holmes has blamed the lack of spending due to re-signing key players. But that's his own fault.
In 2024 he gave a massive deal to Alim McNeill that kicks in this season for almost $29 million dollars, which is almost 10% of the Lions entire payroll. McNeil, who missed time last season after tearing his ACL late in 2024, currently makes more than studs like Quinnen Williams and Jeffery Simmons, both game changers at the position. He also shelled out serious cash for cornerback D.J Reed, who's been very average and is in the later portion of his career.
So if he's blaming lack of spending this offseason due to re-signing players, what the heck is he going to do next year? Lions have to re-sign Gibbs and Campbell at some point, while Jameson Williams and Aiden Hutchinson's huge deals are going to kick in. If somehow Joseph's knee gets back to full strength and the Lions keep him around, he'll be due another $16.5 million.
It's frustrating for fans, after the team was one half away from the Superbowl in 2023, to hear excuses. You absolutely have to draft well, and the last two years of duds has hurt the team financially by not having experienced role players who are on the cheap.
They can't keep kicking the can down the road with deferred contract money and restructures without it blowing up in their faces. The Lions are more than just 1 or 2 players away from getting back to Superbowl form, and blame lies entirely on Holmes.
