The Lions have given themselves significant 2026 salary cap space by restructuring quarterback Jared Goff’s contract.
By converting $40 million of his 2026 base salary into a signing bonus and adding a void year, Detroit added $32 million in cap space for this season, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Goff’s total pay for 2026 will be unchanged, but now less of that pay will count toward this year’s cap and more of that pay will count toward future years’ salary caps.
Officially, the Lions were tight against the salary cap heading into today’s 4 p.m. deadline for every team to be under. But it was never really a concern because they always had restructuring Goff’s contract as an option. The Lions have multiple other highly paid players whose contracts could be similarly restructured if they decide to clear more cap space for this year.
After a disappointing 2025 season, the Lions think they can get back into contention in 2026. They’ll have the cap space to add major veteran contributors toward that goal, if they choose to do so.
Lions Clips
The best indicator of a player’s expected role with a new team is the investment made to get him. For the Lions, the contract given to running back Isiah Pacheco means that will be the clear No. 2 to Jahmyr Gibbs.
Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, it’s a one-year, $1.81 million deal. This means that the days of Sonic and Knuckles are over. For 2026, it’ll be all Sonic for the Lions.
As it should be. Gibbs is a potential superstar. As a rookie, his playing time was limited to 57 percent. In 2024, it was 56 percent. Last year, it moved to 67 percent.
With that workload, Gibbs still had 1,839 yards from scrimmage and 18 total touchdowns.
By way of comparison, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey had 83 percent playing time in 2025 — and 2,126 yards from scrimmage.
With Gibbs in line for a significant second contract, they’ll need to get value. With David Montgomery due to be traded to the Texans on Wednesday, the new-look depth chart will likely lay the foundation for Gibbs to be a Barry Sanders/Billy Simms-type presence in the Detroit offense.
Teddy Bridgewater is returning as Jared Goff’s backup.
Detroit has agreed to terms with the quarterback, NFL Media reports, though terms were undisclosed.
Bridgewater originally signed with the Lions in 2023, and he came out of retirement late in the 2024 season to return to Detroit. In 2025, he left for Tampa.
Bridgewater, 33, has not started a game since 2022, throwing only 15 passes since then.
NFL Media also reports the Lions are re-signing cornerback Rock Ya-Sin to a one-year, $4 million deal.
Ya-Sin, 29, joined the Lions in 2025. He appeared in 17 games with six starts, seeing action on 611 defensive snaps and 186 on special teams.
He totaled 47 tackles and nine pass breakups in 2025.
The Lions have reached agreement on a one-year deal to bring back linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
The team selected Rodriguez in the sixth round of the 2022 draft, and he has spent his career in Detroit.
In 2024, he tore an ACL on Thanksgiving Day and needed almost a full year before returning to the field. He appeared in seven games last season, starting one, and totaled 12 tackles and one tackle for loss in 72 defensive snaps.
Rodriguez has recorded 164 tackles, three sacks, three passes defended, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He has appeared in 50 games, with 25 starts.
The Lions have replaced running back David Montgomery, who will officially be traded on Wednesday to the Texans.
Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Lions have agreed to terms with former Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco.
Pacheco, a seventh-round pick in 2022, has appeared in 51 regular-season games with 42 starts. Once the Chiefs agreed to terms with running back Kenneth Walker III, Pacheco’s return to the Chiefs became highly unlikely.
He had a career-high 935 rushing yards in 2023. Last year, he gained only 462 rushing yards in 13 games, with 12 starts. Still, he runs with an intensity that will help move the sticks between the tackles.
In Detroit, Pacheco will become the clear No. 2 to emerging star Jahmyr Gibbs, and insurance in the event Gibbs is injured.
Terms have not yet been reported. Whatever the deal is worth, Gibbs is likely to get a contract before the season begins that will put him at the top of the market.
Gibbs shouldn’t set foot on the practice field until he gets a new deal.
Wide receiver Kalif Raymond is joining back up with Ben Johnson.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Raymond has agreed to a one-year deal with the Bears. Raymond played for Johnson when the Bears head coach was the offensive coordinator in Detroit. Bears wide receivers coach Antwan Randle-El also held the same job in Detroit before joining Johnson in making the jump to Chicago last year.
Raymond bounced around the league before joining the Lions in 2021 and spending the last five seasons with the team. He had 171 catches for 2,185 yards and seven touchdowns during that run.
The Lions also used Raymond as a returner and he had three punt return touchdowns as a member of the team.
Linebacker Alex Anzalone was one of the players to land a job with a new team after the free agent negotiating window opened on Monday.
Anzalone agreed to sign a two-year deal with the Buccaneers after spending the last five seasons with the Lions. In a farewell message posted to Instagram, Anzalone suggested that his first choice wasn’t to move on from Detroit.
“The business side of football doesn’t always line up with exactly how things should go,” Anzalone wrote. “Contracts end, decisions are made and sometimes paths diverge. It’s bittersweet, no doubt. I leave with nothing but appreciation.”
Running back David Montgomery, left tackle Taylor Decker, defensive lineman Roy Lopez, quarterback Kyle Allen, and cornerback Amik Robertson are other Lions set to move on to other teams for the 2026 season. All of the moves signal a bigger shift away from the Lions team that made a run to the NFC Championship Game after the 2023 season and the success of the revamped roster in 2026 will determine whether even more sweeping changes are in store in Detroit.
Quarterback Kyle Allen is signing a two-year, $4.1 million deal with the Bills, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Allen has another $2 million in incentives in the contract.
Allen will reunite with his close friend, Josh Allen, after spending the 2023 season as Josh Allen’s backup in Buffalo.
Kyle Allen, 30, was Jared Goff’s backup with the Lions last season. He appeared in only three games and threw only two passes.
He has not started a game since 2022 with the Texans but has appeared in 34 games, with 19 starts, in his career.
Allen has also spent time in Carolina, Washington and Pittsburgh in addition to his stops in Buffalo, Houston and Detroit.
In his career, he has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 4,753 yards with 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.
Defensive lineman Roy Lopez is heading back to Arizona.
NFL Media reports that Lopez has agreed to sign with the Cardinals as a free agent. It is a two-year, $11.5 million deal with $7 million in guaranteed money.
Lopez played for the Cardinals in 2023 and 2024 before signing with the Lions last year. Nick Rallis was the Arizona defensive coordinator in those seasons and he remained with the team through the head coaching change that saw Mike LaFleur replace Jonathan Gannon.
Lopez had 30 tackles and two sacks in 17 games for the Lions last season. He had 70 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery during his first stint with the Cardinals.
When the Lions recently released veteran left tackle Taylor Decker, the natural conclusion was that right tackle Penei Sewell would move from the right side to the left side. One of Monday’s deals seems to confirm it.
As noted by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the signing of former Dolphins tackle Larry Borom points to Borom becoming the new right tackle, with Sewell flipping to left tackle.
Borom started 11 games at right tackle for the Dolphins in 2025.
Birkett projects the starting offensive line to feature Sewell at left tackle, Christian Mahogany at left guard, Cade Mays at center, Tate Ratledge at right guard, and Larry Borom at right tackle.
Sewell, the seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, is signed through 2029. He has an average salary of $28 million per year.
