If the Detroit Lions want to bolster their offensive line depth with some experience, at least one of these five still-available free agents might make sense.
It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t think the Detroit Lions have one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. But was also learned in Detroit, there’s no such thing as too much offensive line depth after the five projected starters never played a single snap together in a regular season game last year.
To that end the Lions did give significant guaranteed money to two undrafted rookie offensive lineman–Obinna Eze and Kevin Jarvis. There’s a chance one or both makes the final 53-man roster.
But the Lions could look to add experience to the offensive line “room”. As in starting experience to the backups, though it’s fair to cross your fingers and assume last year’s injuries to left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow won’t happen again.
Even still, as the calendar moves toward and crosses into June, there could be good opportunities for the Lions to add a veteran offensive lineman or two on the cheap.
5 offensive lineman the Detroit Lions could sign to bolster depth
5. Oday Aboushi
If Aboushi’s name sounds familiar to you as a Lions’ fan, there’s a reason–he played in Detroit during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, seeing action in 23 games and making 10 total starts (eight at right guard in 2020). He spent last season with the Los Angeles Chargers, starting all five games he played before landing on IR with a torn ACL.
Aboushi has started games at both guard spots, and it’s not out of the question he could play tackle in a pinch. That versatility offers valuable potential depth for a team, as long as his knee injury checks out–now almost eight months removed from it.