2025 Departures
As noted above, Davis departed after playing the final year of his contract with Detroit following an offseason trade from Tampa Bay. Davis got a three-year $54 million deal from the Patriots. The other cornerback additions listed above were necessary to regain the depth lost when Melifonwu signed with Miami and Kindle Vildor came to Tampa.
Also as mentioned earlier, star center Frank Ragnow elected to retire this offseason at the age of 28 after seven seasons in the league. He made the Pro Bowl in four of those seven seasons, including each of the last three. The offensive line lost another starter, albeit one who had only been in town for one season, when guard Kevin Zeitler signed with Tennessee. Christian Mahogany, a sixth-round pick n 2024, is likely to get the first crack at filling that open spot on the line.
The Lions chose to release edge rusher Za'Darius Smith in March, and he has not yet signed with another team. Smith was also a Lion for just one year and had 4.0 sacks in eight games.
Other Noteworthy Developments
The Lions didn't have a lot of roster turnover during the 2025 season, but that doesn't mean they avoided any key losses. Both of their coordinators, Ben Johnson on offense and Aaron Glenn on defense, have been hot head coaching candidates for several years and this time around both took the leap. Johnson stayed in the division to take over the Bears and promising young quarterback Caleb Williams. Glenn went to New York to try to get the Jets back on track. The departures are reminiscent of the Eagles' twin losses of Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon after their trip to the Super Bowl in 2022, and it took that team two tries to get it right with their replacements.
The Lions filled their two coordinator vacancies. John Morton had spent the past two seasons as the passing game coordinator for Denver under Sean Payton, but he was an assistant on Campbell's staff in 2022. The team promoted from within at the other spot, giving the defensive coordinator position to Kelvin Sheppard, who had been the linebackers coach.
Detroit wasn't all that active in free agency in terms of bringing in new blood, but the team did work to keep a lot of their own potential defectors in house. Among those who got new deals this offseason to stay in Detroit were Onwuzurike, Barnes, Patrick, defensive end Marcus Davenport, tackle Dan Skipper, running back Craig Reynolds, tight end Shane Zylstra, defensive lineman Al-Quadin Muhammad and cornerback Khalil Dorsey
Pressing Questions
Will the brain drain of both coordinators leaving town hit Dan Campbell's Lions the same way it did Nick Sirianni's Eagles in 2023, or will Detroit's loaded roster make a seamless transition?
The Eagles' first crack at replacing Steichen and Gannon was promoting Quarterbacks Coach Brian Johnson on offense and grabbing Sean Desai off the Seahawks' staff on defense. Philadelphia's 2023 season turned sour in the second half and the team quickly moved on to Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio as their coordinators in 2024. Obviously, that worked out much better as the Eagles not only went back to the Super Bowl but won it.
The Lions would like to skip that first step and hit on capable play-calling replacements for Johnson and Glenn right away. The good news is that both Morton and Sheppard offer some level of continuity, and both inherit talent-laden units. Morton's main concern may be making sure the offensive line remains among the league's best after replacing two starters, but otherwise Detroit returns Goff, St. Brown, Williams, Gibbs, Montgomery and tight end Sam LaPorta, which comprises one of the best groups of skill positions in the NFL.
Sheppard is an energetic coach who has been groomed for several years for the anticipated departure of Glenn. He, too, has a starting lineup that returns mostly intact, though several key players are coming back from injury. If the Lions can get complete, or close to complete, seasons in 2025 from the likes of Hutchinson, Barnes and McNeil, Sheppard should have plenty to work with. The safety combination of Joseph and Branch is one of the best in the league and 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold forms a nice duo with the incoming Reed at cornerback.
Will the Lions be able to defend their NFC North title while facing a difficult schedule and a division that looks to have multiple playoff contenders?
Detroit tied Kansas City for the NFL's best regular-season record in 2024 but didn't even lock down a first-round home game in Week 18. The Lions had to beat the Vikings in the regular season finale to claim a second straight NFC North title, even if they did go 6-0 in division play. That kind of perfect record against North opponents will be difficult to duplicate in 2025, as the Vikings, Packers and Bears all have reasons to believe they are playoff contenders.
The Vikings will be turning to the untested J.J. McCarthy at quarterback with Sam Darnold off to Seattle, which obviously makes the offense something of a question mark, but the team made a concerted effort to fix an interior offensive line that had been a notable weakness. McCarthy still has Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson to throw the ball too, as well as Aaron Jones in the backfield.
Green Bay went 11-6 and made the playoffs last year, too, and quarterback Jordan Love has shown flashes of impending stardom. The Packers added to a deep if slightly confusing receiving corps with their first first-round pick at the position in ages, Matthew Golden. Green Bay hasn't had a losing season since Head Coach Matt LaFleur arrived in 2019 and doesn't appear to have gotten weaker in the offseason.
The Bears haven't had a winning season since 2018 and didn't quite get the debut season they had hoped for out of quarterback Caleb Williams, the first-overall pick in the 2024 draft. However, they spent the offseason attempting to improve everything surrounding Williams, starting with the hiring of Johnson. Like the Vikings, they also overhauled their interior offensive line while adding tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden in the first two rounds.
Detroit is facing the league's second-hardest schedule in 2025, based on the standings from 2024, and the challenges don't just come from inside the division. The Lions have a daunting road lineup awaiting them, with trips scheduled to Kansas City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Cincinnati and Los Angeles to play the Rams. As deep and talented as Detroit's roster is, matching last year's 15-2 record will be a very difficult task.