The Detroit Lions got burned pretty badly last year with Frank Ragnow’s retirement.

The Lions had breadcrumbs on this one. They knew it was possible, but they didn’t find out until after the draft that Ragnow was indeed going to retire. The Lions didn’t prepare as well as they could have, and we saw the outcome of that. Now, with Taylor Decker, things look different. The Lions are seeking clarity on Taylor Decker’s status by the start of the new league year.

“…As he needs to reflect on, you know, a long season, and we and we respect him, we give him that but, but obviously, you know, with the starting new league year coming, that’s obviously you want as much clarity as possible. So within these next couple of weeks, you know, we’ll make sure that we have that clarity.”

That was Lions Gm Brad Holmes on Tuesday at the 2026 NFL Combine. The Lions really want to know at this point what Decker is going to do instead of waiting like they did last year. The thing is, why do they want to know? What is the plan if he doesn’t retire?

Could the Lions decide to cut Taylor Decker if he doesn’t retire?

We’re just thinking out loud here and not pushing this in one direction or the other. What we know at this point is that the Lions are in a bad cap spot at the moment. There are methods to open up some cap space, and Decker’s retirement was one of those. If Decker retires, the Lions free up $11.6 million in cap space.

If the Lions were to cut Decker, they’d save $11.6 million. There’s really no difference here. So if it comes down to it and Decker says he wants to come back, do the Lions then go with him? He’s a veteran starter, and he’s only 31. But he is coming off the worst year of his career, where he dealt with a shoulder injury all year. He was on the injury report every week of the season and missed some games. Is it wise for the Lions to go with him?

The other thing we know is that the Lions have already begun to do work on free agent tackles. We also know that they’re going to do their due diligence on a deep tackle class while they’re at the Combine. There are going to be a lot of options for the Lions to move on right now. Maybe the most they’re going to get for a while. So it makes you wonder if they plan to just go ahead and do it, no matter what happens with Decker.

It would seem there’s an element of that in the plans, no matter what, if you look at Dan Campbell’s comments from the Combine, where he doesn’t really give Decker the starting job if he were to stay.

“Look, if it’s not, then we got to find the guy, right? But if it is, we still got to find the guy. Because as much as I love Deck, you know, he’s got some things that are going to need some management. And that’s kind of where we’re at, you know. And so we’re one way or another, we’re going to need somebody that can play over there, you know, and they can help us if we need them in a crunch or we need them as a starter.”

So then you might ask why they would wait until he gives his decision. If they wanted to cut him, why wouldn’t they just do it now? Well, if Decker decides he’s done, that certainly saves an uncomfortable conversation from happening, doesn’t it? Of course, there could be some dirty looks coming their way if they say no thank you if he decides to stay.

Of course, there is always the scenario where Decker stays, and he bounces back to the player we’ve seen him be more often than not, and the Lions draft his successor early in the draft. There’s nothing wrong with that approach if it works out. Frankly, even if it doesn’t, you have your future waiting in the wings.

We’re going to see what happens in the next two weeks. The new league year starts on March 11th. The same day free agency starts. We should know by then what the Lions’ move is at tackle.

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