Opinion: The Lions were hoping Taylor Decker would retire

It’s all turned into an akward situation for both parties, but it almost wasn’t

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions tackle Taylor Decker (68) enters the field before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images David Reginek-Imagn Images

This Taylor Decker stuff is pretty rough for both the Detroit Lions and their former left tackle.

It’s been quite a 10-month period with this story, and all roads, at least in this writer’s brain, point to the idea that the Lions were just hoping to be done with Decker and that they were hoping it was Decker who would make that decision.

I think the Lions were really hoping Taylor Decker would retire

It all started back in July. Decker missed the start of training camp on the PUP list with a shoulder injury. He came back in August and was ready for Week 1, but then spent the entire season on the injury report to the point where he would get rest days every week, much like Frank Ragnow.

Decker only wound up missing three games, but his play had taken a step back, and he posted some career-low grades in pass-blocking and the lowest run-blocking grades he’d posted since the 2018 season.

He began talking about retirement after the midway part of the season, and during the locker room cleanout, he was very emotional, and it felt like it was a foregone conclusion that he would walk away.

For the Lions, there would be some cap savings for them if he did. A little over $11 million. Plus, it would mean that he would not have a $24 million cap hit in 2027. If Decker were to retire, the Lions would be able to get rid of the cap hit, and then they probably wouldn’t have had to restructure Decker’s contract in 2027 and push more money down the road. In the end, this was going to work out big for them.

Then, Dan Campbell’s comments at the NFL Combine show that the Lions were going to sign and/or draft more tackle help regardless of whether or not Decker was back because there was concern with his injury, and then he made it seem like even if Decker did come back, he wasn’t guaranteed a starting job or really even a roster spot.

“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.” Campbell said. “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.”

Decker would announce an hour later that he was indeed coming back for an 11th season. The Lions then asked him to take a paycut and he asked for his release.

Over the weekend, Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network sat down with Decker, and Decker told his side of the story in which the Lions told him that they wanted him back during exit interviews, and he told the Lions he was not willing to take a pay cut at that time.

He then said he was blindsided when the Lions told Decker’s agent that if he wanted to come back for an 11th season in Detroit, he’d have to take a pay cut to do it. Decker then asked for his release.

So in my opinion, the Lions saw the following and saw a way out.

  • The injury was going to be a long-term one and needed more management
  • The declining play
  • The large cap hits
  • The need to get younger on the offensive line
  • The potential cap savings
  • A deep offensive line draft

It’s just the perfect storm and the perfect time to move on. If Decker just retires, then it’s not awkward. There doesn’t have to be a pay cut discussion, and it’s a clean break. That’s not what happened. Decker came back, and that forced the awkwardness.

At the end of the day, if the Lions did tell Decker they wanted him back in Janaury and they truly didn’t, that was a mistake. If they truly did want to move on, they should have been forthcoming with that. But it is my opinion that they felt he was actually going to retire, and they were being nice.

We’ll maybe never know what really happened, and until we do, there’s going to be some opinions flying around. This is mine.

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