Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.
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A former Detroit Lions player is totally dissing the idea of playing for the Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers.
Once a Detroit Lions player, always a Lions player. That’s the vibe one former player is giving off amid his NFL free agency journey. Here we are, well into April, and this player still doesn’t have a team for the 2026-27 season, but according to a report, he’s against the idea if going to NFC North contenders the Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers.
So, this is the kind of news Detroit Lions loyalists like to hear. Even though this player has parted ways with the Lions, and in a not-so-great way, he doesn’t want anything to do with the team’s rivals. That’s pure loyalty.
Ex-Detroit Lions Player Tells NFL Insider That He Would Feel Icky Going to a Rival Team
Former Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker has been in NFL free agency since the team allowed for his release request in March. Even though he doesn’t have a new home in the NFL yet, he says that he would rather skip going to the Bears or Packers, according to a report from Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network.
Rogers appeared on the Thursday, April 2 episode of the Lions Collective podcast, and talked about his interview with Decker, in which the player talked about his annoyance with the poor communication from the franchise. Speaking on the podcast, he talked about the teams Decker wants to avoid.
“He wants to play for a winner (but) he’s kind of thinking about, ‘Is it cheap to win somewhere else after you’ve invested all your energy emotionally and physically into one franchise?'” Rogers said on the show.
Rogers added, “I will tell you that he’s pretty anti-playing for the Bears and Packers. That’s the Lions background. I know Ben Johnson did it, and that was the right situation for him, but Taylor feels kind of dirty about the idea. It just isn’t interesting to him.”
Rogers also said that Decker wasn’t really prepared for the situation that he’s in now, where he’s not going back to the Detroit Lions. “His sole goal—and I’m not even thinking about this, he said this—his sole vision was coming back to play for the Lions,” Roger said. “That was his vision. So, requesting his release, he didn’t really think forward about what was next.”
Former Detroit Lions Player Taylor Decker Commented on His Treatment During Franchise Exit
At the end of the 2025-26 season, the Detroit Lions and granted Decker his request to leave the franchise. But, it was a sticky situation.
In an interview out on Saturday, March 28, withJustin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network, Decker gives a troubling account of what happened to him as he was leaving the Lions.
“It’s been radio silence. It’s uncomfortable,” he told Rogers in the interview. “It’s awkward. It feels like a high school breakup, where you can’t make eye contact when passing each other in the hall.”
Because Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson had reached out to Decker after his release, NFL analysts were starting to think that he could end up with the Bears. But, according to this report, that’s not an ideal place for him. Of course, Decker could still end up there, but it appears less likely now.