Every offseason, players selected in the NFL Draft receive a ton of attention. Everything from a player’s background to their on-field performance to their contract is broken down in immense detail. At the same time, every team adds several players via the undrafted free agent (UDFA) market—typically more players than they draft—but these players often get overlooked or glossed over.
This extra attention to drafted players likely occurs because this group makes their initial rosters around 45% of
the time—over 85% if drafted in the first three rounds—while undrafted players make their team’s initial roster only around 9% of the time. That being said, it’s important not to discount undrafted players’ chances of sticking around in the NFL because UDFAs make up roughly 30% of teams’ 53-man rosters during the regular season.
In 2025, none of the Detroit Lions’ UDFA class made their 53-man roster—halting a 15-year streak of at least one UDFA making the team’s initial roster—but they still began the season with 17 UDFA players on their active roster (just over 32%).
Lions 2026 UDFA class
Immediately following the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Lions signed nine undrafted rookie free agents, and while we have broken down their on-field skill sets and potential, the full details of each player’s contract were not released until very recently.
Here’s a brief overview of how these contracts work. The NFL’s base salary for rookies in the current season is $855,000; however, UDFAs can receive a signing bonus and have a portion of their base salary guaranteed as an incentive to join a franchise.
When assigning signing bonuses, teams operate on a fixed budget—the NFL sets the team’s total UDFA class allotment at around $206,000—but it’s entirely up to the franchise how much they spend on each player and overall. To further entice players to join their organizations, teams have recently begun guaranteeing portions of a player’s base salary. With no restrictions on this practice, teams often guarantee large sums to convince a player to choose them over another team. While this method can be advantageous, teams must be cautious because if a UDFA is released from their contract at any point, the remaining guaranteed money counts against the team’s salary cap.
With this in mind, let’s look at the Lions’ 2026 UDFA class and the guaranteed money that was given to them in their contracts (via OverTheCap.com):
While each rookie’s performance during OTAs and training camp will ultimately decide their fate, an exploration of their contracts (specifically the money guaranteed) can give us indicators of which players the Lions are expecting to challenge for a spot on the roster.
During the last five offseasons under this current Lions’ regime, general manager Brad Holmes has given out a signing bonus of $20,000 (10% of their budget) just six times. However, in this UDFA cycle, Holmes gave out three contracts of at least that amount, including a new high mark of $25,000 to linebacker Erick Hunter.
The Lions also set a new mark for total guarantees in a UDFA contract in this cycle, as defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina ($267,500) and quarterback Luke Altmeyer ($257,500) both eclipsed last year’s high (Jakobie Keeney-James: $254,000).
While Priestly hasn’t gotten as much hype as the other three players mentioned, his significant guarantees aligns with a pattern of Holmes being aggressive in acquiring UDFA offensive linemen. Kingsley Eguakun (2024), Connor Galvin (2023), and Obinna Eza (2022) all received a signing bonus of $20,000 and had the most guaranteed money in their respective Lions UDFA classes. Of this group, only Eguakun ($245,000) received more guarantees than Priestly.
Meritocracy
While securing large guarantees is typically a very advantageous position for a player, Lions coaches always reward players who earn their spots, regardless of their guarantees. This approach has made projecting the future of a UDFA highly unpredictable, as we can see in this regime’s previous UDFA classes.
Where are they now?
2025
Eight of the Lions’ 12 UDFAs from 2025 still play in the NFL at this time (90-man rosters); however, only four of those players remain in Detroit. One player has moved on to the Canadian Football League, while two have elected to enter the coaching ranks—a common theme throughout the Holmes’ UDFA class, which certainly illustrates how the Lions prefer to target players who love football and understand the game at a high level.
2024
Entering last season’s training camp, eight of the Lions’ 15 UDFAs from 2024 were still on the roster. Unfortunately, that number has been reduced to just two players who still remain in Detroit, as windows close quickly on UDFAs after one full season with the team. It’s also worth noting that both remaining players were also near the bottom of this class in guarantees.
2023
The Lions signed 16 UDFAs in 2024 and added a tryout player following rookie minicamp, but only two remain from this class as well. Like 2024, both players were near the bottom of their class in guarantees, yet they’ve earned strong roles on the roster due to their work ethic and performance. Take notice of how the number of players no longer playing football continues to increase the further away from their rookie season.
2022
Not only is there not a single player from the 2022 UDFA class still on the Lions roster, but just Obinna Eze, the player with the most guarantees in this cycle, stuck around for more than one season.
2021
Only one UDFA remains from Holmes’ initial class (2021), but Brock Wright has gone on to earn a second contract with the team.
Will the Lions find another diamond in the rough with their 2026 UDFA class? Or will the depth of a championship-caliber roster squeeze this class out for the second season in a row? We’ll find out in training camp.
