The writing was on the wall regarding a trade involving David Montgomery this offseason. The Detroit Lions' former RB2 had firmly taken a back seat to Jahmyr Gibbs, and while Gibbs is clearly a superstar weapon, Montgomery is too good to be an afterthought in any offensive scheme. So, he was dealt to the Houston Texans for draft compensation and lineman Juice Scruggs.
Montgomery is set to be Houston's RB1 for 2026, which is exactly what he wanted. And, he wanted to go to the Texans, so the Lions clearly honored his wishes up to the very end of his tenure with the squad. That had to have left a good, lasting impression on Montgomery, who recently shared a post to his Instagram that reads:
"You could never make me hate Detroit! Will love that place forever!"
Keep in mind, Montgomery was with NFC North rival Chicago Bears longer than he was with the Lions. It's a wonderful relationship that unfortunately came to an end, but one that's clearly not going to be looked back on negatively on either side.
Montgomery continues to show love to Detroit following trade
Montgomery's trade broke up what was one of the best running back tandems in football. "Sonic and Knuckles" were a tour de force, but things fell flat in 2025 thanks to a porous offensive line and a slightly two-dimensional offense run by former offensive coordinator John Morton. You could blame Morton for Montgomery's desire to leave the Lions, but ultimately, it's always been clear that Gibbs was eventually set to firmly take the reins in the room.
In his time with Detroit, Montgomery had 2,506 rushing yards, 33 touchdowns, and 4.5 rushing yards per attempt. He was the bulldozer to Gibbs' speediness, and was a game-wrecker for Detroit when they needed yards at the line of scrimmage. Isiah Pacheco is in the fold now to try and replicate that same impact with his angry running, but it won't be the same as Montgomery's.
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Houston averaged 3.9 rushing yards per attempt in 2025, and just nine rushing touchdowns. Montgomery had eight touchdowns in 2025 alone. Clearly, they were desperate for veteran help on the ground with how much they struggled to get offense in the air behind C.J. Stroud, so they made perfect sense as a trade partner. They fit Montgomery's needs like a glove, and vice versa.
Still, it's sad to see such a critical piece to the Lions' 2023 and 2024 success gone. This is the tough part about so much winning that the Lions have to begin contending with: knowing when to let go of a core player in order to begin something new.
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