Taylor

Decker

He had contemplated retirement after seemingly spending the entire year on the injury report with a shoulder injury. It’s a big keep for the Lions, who appeared to have no real pathway to another stalwart left tackle from the outside. Decker’s return should solidify some of the offseason questions and direction for the Lions.

With Taylor Decker considering retirement after 10 seasons with the Lions, it’s no surprise the team is preparing in case the 31-year-old indeed decides to call it quits. While the Lions could address their long-term need at tackle with their first round pick, which is 17th overall, the organization will certainly sign a free agent tackle before then if Decker retires. The Lions are approaching this situation proactively after center Frank Ragnow retired late last offseason, which left the team unprepared. Braden Smith, Rasheed Walker, Trent Brown and Jermaine Eluemunor are some of the free agent tackles that could make sense for the Lions.

Decker spoke with reporters post-game, breaking the news that he may have played his final down in the NFL. The 31-year-old left tackle expressed a desire to focus on fatherhood after an injury-impacted 10th professional season. Decker played through a shoulder injury for much of the year and is physically unable to play catch with his young son at this time. Decker signed a three-year, $60 million extension in 2024, keeping him under contract through 2027. Were Decker to retire, Lions RT Penei Sewell, 25, would likely move over to the left side of the line. Decker earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024. Sewell is a four-time defending Pro Bowl player and earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2023 and 2024.

Decker was already questionable with a shoulder injury that he has been playing through, but now adds an illness designation just hours before the Lions’ Week 17 game against the Vikings. We just saw Commanders RB Chris Rodriguez ruled out with an illness after he was added to the injury report in a similar fashion, so Decker looks to be truly questionable to play on Christmas day.

He’s playing. Decker has played through the shoulder issue for weeks despite being listed as questionable. Fellow offensive lineman Christian Mahogany is also listed as questionable. He got in three limited practices this week and should be good to go as well.

Decker has been gutting it out on game day for months now. Lions C Graham Glasgow missed Thursday and Friday’s practices with a knee injury. Lions OG Christian Mahogany practiced fully twice before downgrading to limited on Friday. He is attempting to return from injured reserve after fracturing a fibula in Week 9.

As usual. Decker has played through this injury for most of the season, so we’d expect him to be out there on Sunday despite a lack of practice time.

St. Brown was unable to practice this week after injuring his ankle last Thursday against the Packers. While he possesses some re-injury risk, he was moving very well during warmups and should be started against the Cowboys this evening. The Lions declared S Kerby Joseph, WR Kalif Raymond, OG Kayode Awosika, TE Hayden Rucci, DL Mekhi Wingo and DL Tyler Lacy inactive for Week 14 against the Cowboys. Lions RT Penei Sewell (shoulder), LT Taylor Decker (shoulder/rest) and C Graham Glasgow (knee) are active.

Lions LT Taylor Decker (shoulder/rest) and C Graham Glasgow (knee) are also expected to play. No word yet on Lions LG Kayode Awosika (foot). Likely having 3-of-4 injured starters on the field is good news for QB Jared Goff, who must face the Cowboys’ top-tier pass-rush unit this evening. Hopefully, the group can improve its health in the coming weeks.

Lions LT Taylor Decker (shoulder/rest) joins Sewell in the questionable department. Both players are frequently gutting it out on game day, so we do tentatively expect both players to suit up tomorrow night. The Cowboys’ defense has been playing well in recent weeks. Lions LG Kayode Awosika (foot) was added to the injury report on Tuesday and did not practice on Wednesday, which is not a good sign. Lions C Graham Glasgow (knee) was limited all week. The latter two players are also questionable.