Over their last five games, the Detroit Lions' defense has been equally ineffective against the run and the pass while allowing at least 27 points in each contest. Injuries in the secondary have had a huge effect in the struggles against the pass, and over the last two games the run defense has become a sieve.
Outside of Aidan Hutchinson, who is easy to blame, the Lions' defensive line has simply not been impactful lately. Al-Quadin Muhammad has faded back into obscurity, with no sacks in six of the last seven games, and others simply aren't making impactful plays. Sprinkle in some injuries (Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal, Marcus Davenport, etc.), and things look a bit worse.
General manager Brad Holmes may take issue with being called out for a lack of effort to add another capable edge rusher opposite Hutchinson. But there's no ignoring that oversight from multiple offseasons now, and it will be brought up whether Holmes likes it or not.
Lions writer goes all-in with dramatic move that actually makes sense
As he proposed an offseason overhaul of the defensive line for the Lions, which is absolutely necessary, Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports proposed a move that would be the centerpiece of that overhaul.
"Alim McNeill has had the worst year of his career. There’s sadly no other way to look at it. He missed most of the season recovering from a torn ACL, and since he’s been back, you almost don’t notice he’s out there. He’s not supplying much pressure at all; he hasn’t gotten home on a sack, and his run defense has been very bad."
"Tyleik Williams has been pretty good for the Lions, and there are a lot of similarities between him and McNeill. To the point where you wonder if the Lions’ best move might be to trade McNeill away this offseason and go with Williams in that spot."
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Payton then got into the details and implications attached to trading Alim McNeill.
"The Lions are actually in a good spot to make that move with McNeill this offseason. They would save $24 million in 2026 and only have to pay a little less than $5 million in dead cap. This saves a lot of money down the road as well because McNeill’s cap hits only get larger as the years go on. The problem is that you would have to do it after June first to get the savings. So any draft pick capital you get back, you don’t get to use until 2027."
McNeill was quite good in 2023 and before his ACL tear late last season, earning top-10 overall grades among defensive tackles from Pro Football Focus. But the Lions may have jumped the gun when they gave him a four-year, $97 million contract extension in October of 2024, and while injuries are obviously unpredictable, his ACL tear fueled that notion.
Even with allowance for it being almost exactly a year since his injury, and how it takes time to get all the way back from an ACL tear, McNeill has not been noticeable since returning to action with one sack and two tackles for loss over nine games.
As Payton noted, the cap savings/dead money equation shifts dramatically based on trading McNeill before or after June 1, 2026. A post-June 1 trade would clear $24 million of his $28.96 million cap hit off the books. On March 18 the remaining $4 million of his 2026 salary becomes fully guaranteed, and a $3 million injury guarantee for 2027 becomes fully guaranteed.
The Lions have some tough roster-related decisions coming this offseason. Finding ways to allocate money is an ongoing thing, as draft picks continue to graduate to notable second contracts. McNeill's future cap hits look untenable based on how he's playing right now, but it's very likely there'd be a trade market for him this offseason.