The Detroit Lions are going to have to take a serious look at the viability of their current offensive line ahead of the 2026 season. It's obvious that they need to find an answer at center, but now, they might need to find a starting left tackle to take over for Taylor Decker.
Whether he retires or gets cut by the team ahead of the 2026 season, Detroit has to address what's clearly about to become a vacant spot on the line.
In addition to those issues, they're also facing down a thinned pass rush unit, with Al-Quadin Muhammad a free agent headed into the offseason. Do they have any answers for his potential departure currently on the roster? It appears that they don't, and that's going to likely dictate their draft plan and their aggressiveness in free agency.
Ahead of OTAs kicking off this summer, let's take a look at four Lions that could find themselves cut from the team altogether by the time practices begin.
4 Lions that could be gone by OTAs in 2026
Giovanni Manu
Manu has already caught flack - albeit, none that he brought onto himself - this offseason for basically not reaching a point in his development where he could replace Decker. Manu, the Lions' 4th round pick from 2024, has not gotten a ton of starting snaps over the course of his career, and is not ready to step in for Decker if he does retire.
That's straight from general manager Brad Holmes' mouth, as he told reporters recently that it'd be "unfair" to expect Manu to be ready in his third year to take over such a big role. But, if he's not going to be ready to start, then how could he possibly continue to take up a roster spot from a tackle taken, for example, in the first or second round of this upcoming draft?
Manu's days are numbered with the Lions, it seems. A post-June 1 cut saves the team a hair over $1 million in cap space, and that's surely something they can use considering they're in the red headed into next season.