Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.
Getty
The Detroit Lions are officially announcing news as the 2026-27 season draws closer. Sure, it's still months away, but this is something.
The Detroit Lions are getting closer to the 2026-27 season, and even though September may seem like an eternity away, the first game day will be here before you know it. But, the action actually starts on April 20, even before the NFL draft, as the NFL and Lions announced this week.
Before the regular season, there are always offseason activities. That’s when the Detroit Lions get together to get an early look at the team, new players and overall chemistry. As it turns out, those offseason activities kick off very soon.
Detroit Lions and NFL Announce Exciting Offseason News
On Tuesday, April 7, the Detroit Lions took to social media to officially share their offseason dates. While the league announced the news on April 3, this marked the first time the Lions shared it with their fans.
The first day is April 20, and then, the OTA offseason workouts happen May 27 to 29, June 2 through 4 and June 9 to 11. Then, mandatory minicamp is June 16 to 17.
Followers on social media responded in excitement, because who doesn’t miss football already? “I’ve missed you my love,” one said on social media. “I’m pumped,” another added, hash-tagging “One Pride.”
According to the NFL, “Voluntary offseason workout programs are intended to provide training, teaching and physical conditioning for players.”
According to NFL rules, each club’s official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases. Phase one is two weeks of the program with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only. Phase two is the next three weeks of the program, where workouts may include individual or group instruction and drills but no live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills. Finally, phase three is the following four weeks of the program.
So, the regular season is still months away, but the action starts on April 20.
Former Detroit Lions Player is Still a Free Agent But Staying Loyal to the Motor City
Ex-Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker is still in NFL free agency since the team allowed for his release request in March. So, we don’t know where he’ll end up, but we do know where he doesn’t want to go. According to a report from Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network, he’s not interested in the Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers.
On Thursday, April 2 episode of the Lions Collective podcast, Rogers talked about his offseason interview with Decker, in which the player talked about his annoyance with the poor communication from the franchise. Speaking on the show, 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 of his choices, “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.”