Taylor Decker is maybe, possibly, walking this offseason. Walking home, to be sure.
Decker, the soon to be 32 year old Detroit Lions left tackle, has dealt with a lot of injuries this season that seem to have possibly been more than enough for him to consider retirement. It's fair, as 32 tends to be the age that offensive linemen begin to experience the wear and tear associated with getting hit by equally strong football players for nearly a decade.
With this Decker news, it makes for at least two starting positions on the Lions' O-line that will need filling. Center, and now left tackle. One patchwork solution to the latter of these issues is swapping Penei Sewell over from the right side of the line to the left. He'd likely be willing to do whatever it took to help Detroit get competitive again in the trenches.
And, if the team were to swap him over to the left side, they have a perfect, $18 million replacement to throw onto the right side of the line: New York Giants tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.
Lions have an $18 million solution to potential Taylor Decker retirement
This might be shocking, but the Giants actually had a solid offensive line this season. Eluemunor was one of their better pass protectors, allowing just three quarterback hits on the year but giving up three sacks. It's a little difficult to protect...checks notes...Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Jaxson Dart in the pocket, though.
He played very little snaps at left tackle, just two, but he has the ability to likely make that flip if Sewell didn't want to go over to the left side. Per Spotrac, Eluemunor is projected to net a 2 year, $17.3 million dollar contract next season.
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What are the downsides? Well, age pops out as the most obvious one. We just spoke about why Decker is likely hitting a wall as a tackle in this league: he's about to be 32 years old at the start of the 2026 season, and is already dealing with injuries that are becoming unbearable to manage. Eluemunor will be 32 by the end of next season, so not much better.
He was also injury prone this season, dealing with a pectoral and back issue throughout the season. It wouldn't be the worst signing if the Lions are able to get him on a slightly cheaper deal given their cash constraints and given his injury history from last season, though.