The Lions haven’t made a lot of major moves in free agency to kick off the new league year, as they hope to fill in some gaps for a team that went a disappointing 9-8 last year. There are some fantasy football implications to their moves so far. Let’s take a look at the latest news from the early stages of free agency.

QB: As expected the Lions restructured the contract of QB Jared Goff to create some additional cap room for 2026. It actually wasn’t a full restructure as the Lions continue to try to operate responsibility and think long term with the cap. It’s frustrating to a portion of the fan base who sees other teams creating large amounts of cap room and wondering why the Lions don’t do the same. They could have re-worked some other big contracts (Sewell, St. Brown?) but those moves create crippling cap hits down the road and the Lions don’t want to do that. So they created enough space to make some free agent moves and with their remaining cap room they can perhaps sign some players to extensions and still have enough for their draft picks The Lions will have a new backup quarterback, but he’s actually one of their old backups in QB Teddy Bridgewater. He returns after spending last year with Tampa Bay. QB Kyle Allen left for Buffalo as a free agent. The Lions will need to figure out what to do about Goff’s blind side, as long time LT Taylor Decker was released. It seemed like he was leaning toward retirement when the season ended. He announced he wanted to return a few weeks ago, but it seemed like the Lions were just ready to move on. The question now is if Penei Sewell stays at right tackle or moves to the left side.

RB: Maybe the move that generated the most headlines was the trade of RB David Montgomery. The Lions sent him to Houston, and I was surprised at how much they got in return. The Lions got a 4th round pick this year plus a 7th in 2027 and a potential backup interior offensive lineman. Montgomery is a good back and I think he will do well in Houston but he isn’t getting any younger and has a fairly big contract, so I didn’t think he would have much trade value. I guess I was wrong. The Lions will look to replace him with free agent RB Isiah Pacheco, formerly of the Chiefs. Pacheco is known for his hard running style but he seems to be a downgrade from Montgomery. This could mean we see RB Jahmyr Gibbs take on a slightly larger workload in 2026.

WR/TE: Things are pretty stable with this group. WR Kalif Raymond left to join Chicago as a free agent. The Lions will look to replace him with WR Greg Dortch, a free agent from Arizona. So he’s familiar with new OC Drew Petzing. Dortch figures to compete for a spot as a backup receiver and return man, which was a role Raymond did a nice job in. The Lions also signed TE Tyler Conklin to a 1 year deal so you can pencil him in for now as the third tight end. For now unless things change they will run it back with players in the same roles they had in 2025.

K/DST: As expected the Lions did not use the franchise or transition tag. There have been several additions and subtractions on defense in free agency but it’s mostly depth pieces. I guess the biggest loss was LB Alex Anzalone. I think the Lions will focus on defense in the draft. Left tackle could be their biggest need but I would think most of their picks will be on defense if I had to guess today. PK Jake Bates was tendered as an exclusive rights free agent. I don’t think he has signed it yet but no worry, he isn’t going anywhere.

Next month we will preview the draft and perhaps take a look at any significant moves in the second wave of free agency as the Lions continue to fill holes. The full draft order was officially released. The Lions received a compensatory pick at the end of round 5. They have nice total picks. Due to previous trades they have two picks in rounds 4, 5, and 6, but no pick in round 3.

End.