Offensive lineman Ben Bartch visited the Lions earlier this month and he’ll be spending more time in Detroit in the future.
The Lions announced that they have signed Bartch on Wednesday. The team did not share any details about the terms of the deal.
Bartch entered the league as a Jaguars fourth-round pick in 2020 and played 41 games for the team before the 49ers signed him off their practice squad in 2023. He appeared in 14 regular season games and three postseason contests during his time with San Francisco.
The Lions have also added Cade Mays, Larry Borom, and Juice Scruggs to their offensive line this offseason. They help balance out the departures of starters Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow since the end of the 2025 season.
Lions Clips
The Lions did not make the playoffs at the end of the 2025 season and their approach to the offseason was a topic of conversation for General Manager Brad Holmes this week.
During an appearance on the Lions Collective podcast, General Manager Brad Holmes shot down the notion that there was a difference of opinion within the franchise about how to build the 2026 roster as well as how the team’s recent drafts have impacted their other moves. The Lions have seen players like Al-Quadin Muhammad, Alex Anzalone, Taylor Decker, Amik Robertson, and David Montgomery move on to other teams.
Center Cade Mays was the only addition who signed a multi-year contract with Detroit and Holmes said that thoughts about extensions for running back Jahmyr Gibbs, linebacker Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta, and safety Brian Branch — all of whom were 2023 draft picks — put the “sustainability” of the current roster in the forefront of the team’s thoughts.
“When we’re looking at the constraints we had financially entering in, we’re not going to be able to do a lot of multi-year deals,” Holmes said. “For what we’re trying to do with these extensions that we have upcoming, the implications that it would have on our cap would be — I don’t want to call it crippling, but it would have been hard to overcome. We were kind of limited in how many multi-year deals that we actually could get.”
The job Holmes has done through the draft since arriving in Detroit helped turn the franchise around and the work he can do to maintain that foundation will have a lot to do with how high the Lions can rise in the coming years.
The Lions have had changes this offseason, losing David Montgomery, Alex Anzalone, Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow, among others, while adding Isiah Pacheco, Juice Scruggs and Larry Borom, among others.
A comment made on Detroit’s 97.1 The Ticket began a local debate about whether General Manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell were in sync on the offseason plan.
“Someone who covers the team told me that this was the first offseason there are definite differences of opinions in roster construction between Dan and Brad,” radio host Mike Valenti said last week, via Colton Pouncy of TheAthletic.com.
Holmes was asked by “The Lions Collective Podcast” whether his conversations with Campbell have been more intense after the results last season.
“I think the only intensity I would say is just that when you have a disappointment of a season like we had, it’s more intense in terms of — I think what I spoke about at the end-of-the-season press conference is that it is a deeper, harder look from top to bottom on everything,” Holmes said. “And that’s what me and Dan have done in joint alignment. So, that would be the only intensity that was probably a little further, because you get these eye-openers like, ‘Whoa, hold on now.’ And so, ‘Let’s just make sure that we’re not overlooking something,’ or if there’s not a tweak or adjustment that needs to be done. So, I would say that that would be the intensity. That’s what’s happening.
“I don’t know where the other stuff came from, but no, I mean, if anything, it’s me and Dan in total lockstep like we always have been. And, you know, we’re just kind of looking at everything top to bottom, which we already have done, and that we’ll continue to do, for sure.”
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is back in Detroit, for his third stint with the Lions. The 13-year veteran officially signed his new contract on Monday.
“That fire to just compete and go out there and just excel and help others as well,” Bridgewater said, via the team’s official website. “I’ve always been that type of player who just wants to see others have success and I always felt like as a quarterback we play a huge role in others’ success.”
Bridgewater replaces Kyle Allen as the primary backup to Jared Goff. But Bridgewater has a separate goal than serving as an insurance policy.
“If I can just go out there and help a sixth-round wide receiver have a four- or five-year career or an undrafted free agent get four or five years out of the league from just competing with him throughout the spring, preseason, training camp, if we get reps in the regular season, that’s just something that I look forward to doing,” Bridgewater said.
A first-round pick (32nd overall) in 2014, Bridgewater spent four years with the Vikings, two with the Saints, one with the Panthers, one with the Broncos, one with the Dolphins, and one with the Lions. He left the NFL to become a high-school football coach in 2024. After leading Miami Northwestern to a state championship, he rejoined the Lions for the postseason.
Last year, Bridgewater quit coaching after being suspended for providing benefits to his players. In response, the Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill in February 2026 to allow high school coaches to spend $15,000 per year on student welfare. There have been no further updates on the bill, known generally as the Teddy Bridgewater Act. To become law, it must both pass the House of Representatives and be signed by the governor.
After leaving high-school coaching, Bridgewater played for the Buccaneers last year, serving as the backup to Baker Mayfield.
For his career, Bridgewater has appeared in 83 regular-season games with 65 starts. He suffered a serious knee injury in late August 2016, weeks before what the Vikings had hoped would be a breakout third season with the team.
Heading into his fourth NFL season, expectations are very high for Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Gibbs is the betting favorite to win the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award for 2026.
It was already clear that Gibbs was the No. 1 running back in Detroit, but when the Lions traded running back David Montgomery to the Texans, it left no doubt that the plan is for Gibbs to get a big workload this season. New Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is expected to give Gibbs plenty of opportunities to make plays with the ball in his hands.
Last year Gibbs totaled 1,223 rushing yards. This year he’s expected to go a little higher, as the over-under on Gibbs’ rushing yards is 1,249.5.
Gibbs’ odds to win Offensive Player of the Year are +700. The next-best odds go to Falcons running back Bijan Robinson at +800, followed by Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase at +900, Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey at +1000, Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba at +1100 and Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson at +1200.
The Lions have added some defensive depth.
Detroit announced on Friday that the club has signed lineman Payton Turner.
Turner, 27, was with the Cowboys last season. But he missed the year after being placed on injured reserve in late August after suffering a rib injury.
A former first-round pick, Turner spent his first four seasons with New Orleans. His most productive year was in 2024, when he appeared in 16 games and recorded 21 total tackles with 2.0 sacks.
In his 31 career contests, Turner has tallied 5.0 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 11 quarterback hits.
The Lions announced the return of a defensive lineman on Thursday.
Myles Adams has re-signed with the team. The Lions did not announce any details of the deal.
Adams was signed off of the Seahawks’ practice squad during the 2024 season and appeared in four games for Detroit. He spent all of last season on the team’s practice squad.
Adams had four tackles and a sack for the Lions in 2025. He had 30 tackles, a sack, and a pass defensed in 26 appearances for the Seahawks.
The Lions also added defensive end D.J. Wonnum and linebacker Damone Clark to their defense this week.
New Houston running back David Montgomery says he’s had respect for the Texans organization since long before the Lions traded him there last week.
Montgomery talked in a video for the Texans’ social media about his experience as a Lions-Texans joint practice in training camp, and hearing Lions coach Dan Campbell talk about his respect for Texans coach DeMeco Ryans.
“When I was in Detroit, Coach Campbell would talk about Coach Ryans all the time,” Montgomery said. “When we had joint practices or he was talking about another coach, he always would talk about Coach Ryans. So now, to be under him and see, and be a part of it now, I’m super excited. I couldn’t think of a more ideal place to be.”
Montgomery said he thinks his playing style is going to be a great fit in Houston.
“I’m just coming to be myself,” Montgomery said. “I think myself has been enough for my previous teams.”
The Texans think he’s enough to make a significant improvement to their offense in 2026.
Free agent wide receiver Greg Dortch is signing a one-year deal with the Lions, NFL Media reports.
Dortch reunites with new Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who coached Dortch the past three seasons in Arizona.
Dortch, 27, has spent the past five seasons with the Cardinals.
In 2025, he played 12 games with three starts, seeing action on 292 offensive snaps and 103 on special teams. Dortch averaged 11.6 yards on 16 punt returns and 26.2 yards on 31 kickoff returns, while catching 29 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
He began his NFL career with the Panthers in 2019.
In six seasons, Dortch has 145 receptions for 1,310 yards and 10 touchdowns, with an 8.9-yard per punt return average and a 23.6-yard per kickoff return average.
Dortch will replace Kalif Raymond, who is leaving Detroit for Chicago after five seasons.
The Lions signed unrestricted free agent Damone Clark on Wednesday, the team announced.
Clark, 25, finished last season with the Texans, who claimed him off waivers from the Cowboys on Nov. 19.
In six games with Houston, Clark played 23 defensive snaps and 131 on special teams. He made 14 tackles.
The Cowboys made Clark a fifth-round pick in 2020, and he started 17 games for the team in 2023 when he posted 109 tackles and three quarterback hits.
Clark will replace Grant Stuard as a core special teams player. Stuard, who led the team in special teams snaps last season, left in free agency. Clark will join a linebackers room with Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez and Trevor Nowaske.
Clark has appeared in 55 career games with 26 starts and has totaled 190 total tackles, six tackles for loss, four pass defenses and two forced fumbles.
