What Lions’ offseason moves might indicate about 2026 season

By this point in the offseason, it’s well documented who the Detroit Lions have added, as well as who they’ve lost.

Former Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays was the prize of free agency. He’ll replace Graham Glasgow in the middle of Detroit’s offensive line. Clemson’s Blake Miller, selected 17th overall in April’s draft, is poised to quickly take over at the tackle spot opposite Penei Sewell, stepping in for Taylor Decker. The pass rush was overhauled across from Aidan Hutchinson, with Ahmed Hassanein and Tyler Lacy being the only other edge defenders still on the roster from last season.

Today, we’ll try to take our analysis a step further, identifying a few patterns within Detroit’s offseason approach and exploring what those acquisitions, retentions and departures mean for a Lions team looking to bounce back and reemerge as a title contender in 2026.

Emphasis on interior pass rush

Detroit’s offense had its own share of issues throughout 2025. But what the defense produced down the stretch with the season on the line failed to meet reasonable expectations. Opponents averaged 28.1 points and 382.1 yards per game from Weeks 12-18, a stretch that resulted in four losses. Pinning all of Detroit’s defensive woes on one factor would be foolish (and you can’t ignore the role injuries played), but an inconsistent, at best, pass rush certainly didn’t help. The Lions owned the third-slowest time to pressure (2.86 seconds) in the NFL last season, according to Next Gen Stats.

Aside from the retooling opposite Hutchinson, the Lions also seemingly put an emphasis on acquiring interior defensive linemen who can get after the passer. Levi Onwuzurike is back after his contract tolled last season — Josh Paschal, a run-defending lineman who also had his contract tolled but was released in March, wasn’t afforded the same opportunity — and the Lions spent a couple of late-round draft picks on Texas Tech’s Skyler Gill-Howard and Tennessee’s Tyre West. Both players were drafted because of the flashes they’ve shown as pass rushers, particularly Gill-Howard, whose win rate in 2025 (14.4%) ranked 10th out of the 512 FBS interior defenders who rushed the passer on at least 100 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

More nickel?

Copying the Super Bowl champions isn’t always wise — every team’s personnel has its own set of skills — but it’s striking how much Detroit’s defense differed from that of the Seattle Seahawks, who rode their defense on the way to winning the franchise’s second title. The Lions led the league in use of base defense (three linebackers) last season, deploying those packages for 657 plays, according to Next Gen Stats. The Seahawks were last, with 66 plays. It was the opposite for use of nickel defense (five defensive backs), with the Seahawks leading the league (815) and the Lions at 32nd (355). Of course, Seattle is unique, given head coach Mike Macdonald’s defensive system and nickelback Nick Emmanwori’s immediate impact as a rookie.

The Lions won’t overhaul their entire scheme in one offseason, but it’s difficult to see their moves in totality and not come away thinking they could lean more on nickel packages in 2026. Alex Anzalone, one of the league’s better linebackers against the pass, allowed the Lions to play base defense as much as they did, as he was comfortable in coverage. He’s now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions added a number of viable options to play nickelback next season, including veterans Christian Izien Jr. and Roger McCreary, as well as fifth-round rookie Keith Abney II (Arizona State).

Youth movement up front

Assuming the starting five, from left to right, winds up being Sewell, Christian Mahogany, Mays, Tate Ratledge and Miller, Detroit’s offensive line will have an average age of 25.2 next season. That’s down from 2025 (27.8) and 2024 (29.8). In no way does the influx of youth indicate surefire success, but the Lions would certainly be set up for sustained success if each of the five projected starters reach their ceilings. The offensive line could be even younger if 2025 fifth-rounder Miles Frazier, who is 11 months younger than Mahogany, wins the starting job at left guard. Juice Scruggs, another contender at left guard, is nine months older than Mahogany. Ben Bartch, 27, is the veteran option.

Whether Mays continues ascending at center will be key to Detroit’s success in 2026. He’s only started 20 games at the position over his four seasons in the NFL, and all of those starts have come within the last two years. He showed week-to-week growth in his 12 starts in 2025, enough for the Lions to commit $25 million ($14 million guaranteed) to him over the next three years. Mays surrendered 13 pressures last season and didn’t allow sack, according to PFF.

rsilva@detroitnews.com

@rich_silva18