Latest Lions’ developments could mean bad news for Alim McNeill and Detroit, too
The Lions are kind of stuck with McNeill.
Let’s go back in time a little bit to October. The excitement around the Detroit Lions activating Alim McNeill was huge. The defensive line was leading the league in sacks and pressures at the time, and the addition of McNeill was supposed to put them over the top. That didn’t happen. What did happen was that McNeill had the worst season of his career.
How bad was it? McNeill had just 23 pressures and no sacks. Even worse, in his final three games of the season, he did not register a single pressure. And those were huge games the Lions needed to win to make the playoffs. Then, against the Minnesota Vikings, McNeill went out with an injury and missed the final game of the season. That’s where problems really arise for him.
The Lions got good enough play from Tyleik Williams, Mekhi Wingo, and Roy Lopez to consider trading McNeill
Make no mistake, this isn’t just a Week 18 thing. Tyleik Williams has looked good all season long, and come 2026, you can hold the first-round pick back any longer. He’s ready to start. Oddly enough, when the Lions drafted Williams, there was a lot of comparison to McNeill. Williams had a very similar rookie year as well.
Then there’s Mekhi Wingo. He’s been a healthy scratch all season long, but when the Lions finally got him out there, he made some plays and brought pressure on Caleb Williams. The Lions have been wanting to find a role for him all year; he may have just found it himself.
Then there’s Roy Lopez. He’s a free agent this offseason, but he has done more than enough for the Lions to want to bring him back, and he could be in line for a little bit of a bigger role.
The problem for McNeill is that these three guys are playing well, and he’s having some trouble right before he’s going to have a $28 million cap hit in 2026. That will make the Lions think about their options. The problem is that they only have two. Three, if you count just paying him what is on the sheet. I don’t think that’s happening.
Trade McNeill
At this point, you won’t get a ton of value for him. Maybe, something like a fourth- or fifth-round pick on the high side, but that’s not your issue. Your issue is that you can’t make the trade before free agency or even before the draft. You definitely can’t cut him either, by the way — only with a post-June 1 designation. You have to do the trade after June 1. That’s the only way you get cap savings. Take a look:
| Method of moving on | Dead Money | Cap Savings |
| Cut pre June 1 | $37,714,000 | $8,748,000 |
| Cut post June 1 | $28,816,000 | $4,150,000 |
| Trade pre June 1 | $17,864,000 | $11,102,000 |
| Trade post June 1 | $4,966,000 | $24,000,000 |
There’s a world where you take the hit and trade him before June 1 if the return is something you can’t say no to, but you’re unlikely to get that offer, and it just makes way more sense to do it after June 1. But as I said, that’s not something that helps you this offseason. It helps you next year.
Restructure his contract and hope for the best
Restucturing McNeill’s deal could open up an extra $18 million ahead of free agency. That’s a nice chunk of change for sure. The problem is that you’re saving money right now, but you’re just kicking the money down the road and making things harder later.
When you do this, you have to know for certain, or as much as you can, that McNeill will be good in 2026 and later, because now you’re tied to him. If he’s bad and you cut him, you’re still footing the bill in dead cap. The Lions are kind of stuck. I don’t think anyone saw this coming when they signed him to this deal — he was on a Pro Bowl pace at that time.
We will see what the move is with McNeill this offseason. The hope is that if he stays, he needs time to get fully healthy and balls out in 2026. If that doesn’t happen, this was a bad deal for the Lions.
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