Not long after signing a four-year, $97 million contract extension in 2024, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill suffered a torn ACL. He was clearly not at full strength upon returning to action last season, which obviously made his contract look increasingly bad, barring a drastic turnaround.
On Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, McNeill did his best to change that narrative. The 26-year-old had one sack and Pro Football Focus also credited him with two pressures in their initial charting. That gives him 5.5 sacks this season, which is already a new career-high for him at basically the halfway point of his sixth NFL campaign.
With a career-high virtually guaranteed, McNeill has rebounded nicely and is validating the Lions' investment while also adding a punch to their pass rush.
Alim McNeill is moving toward fully justifying the Detroit Lions' hefty investment
When offseason work started in June, McNeill sent strong signals that he was back to his prior form. McNeill had also not played all 17 games since 2022, which has kept him from having a full-on breakout despite the Lions investing in him so heavily. He was clearly motivated to show he could get back to the form he showed in 2023 and 2024, but he had a lot to prove even if it was easy to expect a healthy resurgence.
But for all his struggles, McNeill was very successful as a pass rusher last season, but having two healthy legs lined up to make a huge difference this year.
Over seven games this season, PFF has credited McNeill with 33 quarterback pressures. His pass rush win rate, among defensive tackles with at least 64 pass rush snaps, was tied for 14th-best entering Week 9. His run defense grades game-to-game have been up-and-down, but he now has six tackles for loss this season after registering one against Miami on Sunday.
Alim McNeill’s rebound gives the Lions’ pass rush its money’s worth
The Lions have long been searching for someone else who can add consistent juice to their pass rush this side of Aidan Hutchinson. Multiple players have shown flashes over the years, including McNeill for a couple of decent stretches, but no one has managed to stick around long enough without something (usually an injury) to knock things off course.
Lions' rookie edge rusher Derrick Moore had what looks to be a potential breakthrough performance against the Dolphins, as he stepped into a bigger opportunity with D.J. Wonnum (concussion) out. When Wonnum is able to play, there may actually be some viable edge-rusher depth opposite Hutchinson.
But interior pass-rush presence can absolutely be McNeill's central domain. Tyleik Williams is good in that area, but McNeill is clearly the more noticeable presence on the Lions' interior defensive line when it comes to making things uncomfortable for opposing quarterbacks.
By any measure – per-year average, total contract value, or total guaranteed money – McNeill is the 12th highest-paid defensive tackle in the league right now. In the second year of that big extension, and the first in which his cap hit became sizeable, he is fully healthy and asserting himself as being worthy of that investment.
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