The Lions’ top priority this offseason has to be a complete rebuild of their defensive line, that might include trading someone away
Trading Alim McNeill might seem like a bad idea, but it unlocks some good possibilites for the Lions
The Detroit Lions have a problem on their defensive line, and no matter how many people want to suggest it, Aidan Hutchinson isn’t it. It’s not his leg. It’s not him taking a big payday and deciding to be Albert Haynesworth or any of that dumb stuff.
But what you can comment on is how bad his supporting cast has been this year.
The Lions need a total defensive line rebuild in the offseason
It’s easy to look at the Lions’ offensive line and think that’s the big thing in the trenches that needs all the attention paid to it. I have to disagree, I think the Lions are sitting in a good spot with their line. They’ll probably need a new left tackle, but everything else is all about maneuvering and time on task. They have the guys for that line; they just need some time to cook, just like the previous combination of guys.
The defensive line needs a total reset, though. Let’s start with the interior. DJ Reader has been fine, but the Lions never got the elite version of him that the Bengals had. He’ll be 32 years old in July, and his contract is up in a few weeks. The Lions will likely be in the market for a new nose guard. Maybe Roy Lopez could take that role.
Alim McNeill has had the worst year of his career. There’s sadly no other way to look at it. He missed most of the season recovering from a torn ACL, and since he’s been back, you almost don’t notice he’s out there. He’s not supplying much pressure at all; he hasn’t gotten home on a sack, and his run defense has been very bad.
Tyleik Williams has been pretty good for the Lions, and there are a lot of similarities between him and McNeill, to the point where you wonder if the Lions’ best move might be to trade McNeill away this offseason and go with Williams in that spot.
Why an Alim McNeill would open up a lot of possiblities for the Lions
The Lions are actually in a good spot to make that move with McNeill this offseason. They would save $24 million in 2026 and only have to pay a little less than $5 million in dead cap. This saves a lot of money down the road as well because McNeill’s cap hits only get larger as the years go on. The problem is that you would have to do it after June 1 to get the savings. So any draft pick capital you get back, you don’t get to use until 2027.
But with the money saved, the Lions can afford to get some of their big extensions done. Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch, Jack Campbell, and Sam LaPorta are still going to have their bills come due very soon.
In terms of edge rushers, the Lions should make sure they keep Al-Quadin Muhammad, but he shouldn’t be the second option. He should be a depth piece. There aren’t many free agent pieces that are worth investing a ton of money in this offseason, but if the Lions walked out with someone like Bengals edge Joseph Ossai and then drafted someone like Missouri’s Zion Young in the second round, they’d be miles ahead of where they are now.
Lastly, it’s time to stop trying to make often-injured players work. Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike had high ceilings if they could have stayed healthy, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen for either. Holmes might be tempted to keep them on sweetheart deals, but he has to learn from Marcus Davenport and Emmanuel Moseley that this method does not work. While it didn’t cost them much, it was still money spent on investments that didn’t appreciate.
They don’t need to break the bank on their defensive line to improve it, but some tough decisions might need to be made, and the focus needs to be on the immediate future of this line and how much its top player can be helped.
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