Going into the season, the balance of touches in the Detroit Lions' backfield seemed likely to shift toward Jahmyr Gibbs, and away from David Montgomery. The question would be how much things would shift toward the younger back.
The Lions' rushing offense dropped off in every way this season compared to the last couple. Jahmyr Gibbs had another terrific season, with over 1,800 yards from scrimmage, a career-high 77 receptions and 18 total touchdowns.
Gibbs' 320 touches came along with him playing two-thirds of the Lions' offensive snaps (67 percent). Meanwhile, Montgomery played just 37 percent of the snaps with a career-low 182 touches despite playing every game for the first time.
Head coach Dan Campell's talk about getting Montgomery more work was followed by a short-term spike (39 carries over a three-game span), then had double-digit carries just once over the last eight games of the season.
Brad Holmes may have revealed David Montgomery's future in Detroit
Toward the end of his season-ending press conference on Thursday, general manager Brad Holmes was directly asked if he expected Montgomery back next season.
"Obviously, I know it was a tough year for him in terms of the lack of touches. I'm not going to say I went into it planning for it to be that way. So, those are discussions that we're going to have to have a lot more depth in terms of, what's the best plan for him moving forward. Is that somewhere else, or whatever the case may be."
"I really appreciate everything he's done for us if it does go that way, but I hope it doesn't. We love David Montgomery. Those are conversations we're gonna have, I have a lot of respect for that player."
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"I really appreciate everything he's done for us if it goes that way."
Those are not the strongest words Holmes could've used to answer that question. His overall answer to the inquiry seemed to hint there will be discussions with Montgomery about his future in Detroit. And if he wants to be traded, every effort will be made to accommodate that desire.
Montgomery's post on Instagram from before the Week 17 game against the Minnesota Vikings, showing a set of pads with his jersey on them sitting on a locker shelf with his name above it, hinted at discontent with his ongoing lack of usage.
Maybe he had some conversations at that point about why he wasn't seeing more work. His carry total over the final two games (18), was more than he had over the previous three games (17).
Trading Montgomery before June 1 would leave the Lions with about $4.8 million of his $8.37 million cap hit for 2026 as dead money, with $3.5 million in cap savings. A post-June 1 trade designation shifts the cap savings to $6 million for this year.
With the clear opportunity to do so on Thursday, Holmes could've put the kibosh on any idea Montgomery will be traded this offseason. Instead, even if it's obviously not the desired outcome, he pushed it pretty far toward likely.