The Detroit Lions have a 3-2 record entering their Week 7 game against the Green Bay Packers, and truthfully, there's a lot of reason for optimism around their potential for this season. The rest of the NFC in general seems to be in shambles, and there's a good shot that the Lions won't be the only NFC North team to clinch a postseason spot by year's end.
Honestly, the whole division might be a safe bet to make the playoffs this year.
This Lions team did undergo some pretty big transformations this offseason by way of letting a few key starters walk, and one fan favorite being traded away. So far, the returns for Detroit have been fairly positive save for one departure.
We'll be checking in with four former Lions ahead of the teams' Week 7 clash with the Packers.
Amik Robertson
Robertson has been one of the Washington Commanders' best stories of their abysmal 1-4-1 start to the season. He's already picked up eight pass breakups and a forced fumble, and 40 total tackles on the season. That's 12 shy of what he'd accomplished with the Lions in 17 games last season.
Maybe it's just a better scheme fit for Robertson, or he just needed a change of scenery, but it's beginning to feel like the Lions could've definitely used his services in 2026. Given that he only walked for a 2-year, $15 million deal, Detroit might've been better off further investing in the veteran for help in their secondary.
Robertson has now landed as a named trade fit for the Lions, by The Athletic's Daniel Popper. A reunion could be amenable for the Lions and Robertson.
Alex Anzalone
Anzalone is one of two former Lions we'll be discussing who became a Tampa Bay Buccaneer this offseason. The veteran linebacker had begun to show some signs of slippage for the Lions in 2025, although its become pretty clear that Jack Campbell benefitted slightly from Anzalone's work as a weakside linebacker in the Lions' defense.
That said, he is having a rough start to his tenure with Tampa Bay. In year one of his two-year contract for the NFC South squad, he's missed many tackles, looked weak in coverage, and has, generally, begun to look his age. As Pewter Plank writer Joe Soriano shared of Anzalone just last month:
"Anzalone is a net negative on the entire team, missing tackles, blowing coverae, and playing so badly that you have to wonder if he is taking bets against the Buccaneers. Because there is no logical explanation for a player of his experience and with the money he is making off the Buccaneers to be playing this badly. The Bucs defense would be better with 10 men than Alex Anzalone causing chaos and making life more difficult for that of his teammates."
In this instance, it seems like the Lions were right to let him walk. Obviously, you'd hope that Campbell would have taken a bigger step forward this season as the new captain of this defense, but at least the Lions' linebacker unit in aggregate have a bit more potential than Anzalone at the moment.
READ MORE: Keith Abney II hypes a 'scary' new dynamic duo coming soon to Lions' defense
Al-Quadin Muhammad
Muhammad was the other defender that walked for Tampa Bay this offseason following a career-best season with the Lions. Detroit seemed to understand that getting Alim McNeill back for a full season, as well as still rostering one of the most fearsome edge rushers in Aidan Hutchinson, would mean that any solid defender placed in Muhammad's role would also thrive.
They've been right so far in regard to DJ Wonnum being that exact "guy" for them. As for Muhammad, he's taken the back seat to rookie Rueben Bain Jr. He hasn't been all that impressive thus far, so perhaps Muhammad will begin to see an uptick in snaps if the Buccaneers are convinced they can bounce back in a weak NFC.
Either way, the former Lion got paid, so regardless of whether he plays or not at the moment is probably not very front of mind.
David Montgomery
Montgomery started the year hot for the Houston Texans, posting three total touchdowns and looking like their answer to a weak ground game in 2026. Before we knew that Juice Scruggs would be such a solid center, it seemed like the Lions were about to deeply regret trading Montgomery.
But then, Montgomery fell off production-wise following that contest, averaging just eight carries per game and scoring no other touchdowns. An injury has since kept him out for the last two games for Houston. So far, it looks like the Lions have actually won the trade, and not the other way around.
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