The Lions will be bringing back one of their fan favorites

Rodrigo is back in Detroit

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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The Detroit Lions have lost a lot of players that Lions fans love. David Montgomery, Taylor Decker, Alex Anzalone, and Kalif Raymond. The good news is that they’re not losing everyone.

The Lions plan to sign Malcolm Rodriguez to a one-year deal to return to Detroit

Lions fans fell in love with Rodriguez during his rookie season when he came into the linebacker room on Hard Knocks and took it over on his way to starting right away. That hasn’t been Rodriguez’s role for the Lions since 2023, whent he team has had Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes playing much bigger roles, but Rodriguez has been a great special teams hand and is always good off the bench.

With Anzlaine moving on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rodriguez could see some more playing time on defense in 2026. He should, at worst, be expected to bring that same presence off the bench if the Lions elect to draft a linebacker. Something they’re absolutely expecting to do at this point.

Bringing back Rodriguez made way too much sense. A source close to the situation once told me that it would take the world to separate Rodrigues from the Lions because he was so loved by coaches. It’s interesting to see it’s only a one-year deal. Perhaps the Lions plan to do a year-by-year thing with him. It’s not an abnormal move.

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