The Detroit Lions head into 2026 with a full set of running backs under contract, but they have two massive questions ahead. I’m going to break down each of those decision in full here, as we continue
our 2025 recap/2026 offseason positional preview. If you missed it, the series kicked off on Monday with a breakdown of the Lions’ quarterback situation.
Lions 2025 recap: Running backs
Jahmyr Gibbs stats:
- 1,223 rushing yards (seventh in NFL)
- 5.0 yards per carry (eighth)
- 13 rushing TDs (t-fourth)
- 48.1% rushing success rate (34th)
- 616 receiving yards (third)
David Montgomery stats:
- 716 rushing yards (30th in NFL)
- 4.5 yards per carry (21st)
- 8 rushing TDs (t-12th)
- 48.1% rushing success rate (35th)
- 192 receiving yards (37th)
Gibbs enjoyed another monster year, but his numbers come with some caveats. On the positive side, Gibbs was arguably the most explosive back in football. He finished the year third in rushes of 20+ yards, second in rushes of 30+ yards, and he was the only back with more than four rushes of 40+ yards (he had six).
But his efficiency in between those explosive plays was down massively. Both Gibbs and Montgomery had success rates in the top-10 last year (Montgomery 55.1%, Gibbs 53.1%), but dropped out of the top-30 this year. Because both saw nearly identical drops this past season, it stands to reason many of the rushing issues can be attributed to the offensive line, which I broke down in fuller detail here.
Outlook for 2026
- RB Jahmyr Gibbs (signed through 2026)
- RB David Montgomery (2027)
- RB Sione Vaki (2027)
- RB Jacob Saylors (2026)
- RB Jabari Small (futures deal)
Note: It’s unclear what the status of Kye Robichaux is. He was waived with an injury designation and reverted to the Lions’ IR back in August, but there is no sign of him anywhere on the Lions’ roster, nor was there any publicly reported injury settlement.
Free agents
- None
Despite having a full stable of backs for 2026, the Lions have significant work to do in the running backs room, and it surrounds two major decisions: a potential Jahmyr Gibbs extension and whether to trade or keep David Montgomery. Let’s break down each individually.
Jahmyr Gibbs extension
Before the pressure is put on both sides to come to an agreement on a new contract, the Lions will have to decide on Gibbs’ fifth-year option by the May 1 deadline. It’s a near-certainty Detroit will exercise that option, giving Gibbs a 2027 season under contract worth an estimated, fully guaranteed $14.1 million.
After that, the Lions are likely to turn their attention to locking Gibbs up long-term. Detroit typically likes to get deals done with draft picks around this time in their NFL journey, although the timing of the agreement could come anywhere from March to mid-season. As of right now, the highest-paid running back in the NFL is Saquon Barkley, whose two-year, $41.2 million extension last year set the market at $20.6 million a year. What is fascinating about the current market is that the highest-paid backs are all on short-term deals like this:
- Barkley: two years, $41.2M
- Christian McCaffrey: two years, $38M
- Derrick Henry: two years, $30M
- Jonathan Taylor: three years, $42M
Will Gibbs reset the market, even though he’s not a work-horse back like the four players above? His production is not far off these players, so it certainly seems likely he’ll touch close to $20 million a year. But the length is probably the more interesting sticking point.
The Lions typically like to operate on a four-year deal for players coming off their rookie contract, but running back is one of those positions where there is danger in long-term deals. There are only four running backs currently on four-year contracts beyond their rookie deal:
- Josh Jacobs: Four years, $48M
- James Cook: Four years, $46M
- Chuba Hubbard: Four years, $33M
- Rhamondre Stevenson: Four years, $36M
Put it all together, and all signs point to the estimate that we provided last year: somewhere around four years, $84 million. That’s a hefty price to pay, and it blows the full value of any other NFL running back contract out of the water.
There is one more thing to consider, though: Bijan Robinson. Gibbs’ draft mate has had just as promising of a start to his career with the Atlanta Falcons and is due for the same extension. It will be interesting to see which team gets the extension off first, and what that deal will look like compared to the other.
David Montgomery trade?
To get you caught up on the situation, Montgomery’s role significantly changed in 2025. With Gibbs’ rise, Montgomery was no longer the team’s starting running back. Gibbs literally started all 17 games after Montgomery started every single game he was healthy for in 2024.
Montgomery was still a part of the team’s game plan each week, and the coaching staff insisted several times throughout the year that they wanted to get him more involved. But that didn’t ever really materialize, as the Lions found themselves trailing more often than in previous years and saw struggles on offense that led to shortened drives and fewer opportunities.
As a team, the Lions had 55 fewer plays on offense and 92 fewer rushes than in 2024. Montgomery’s production saw the biggest decline in the backfield, seeing his rushing attempts drop 14.6% and his receiving targets drop 23.7%.
As a result, it certainly seems like there’s discontent from Montgomery’s end. While the Lions veteran running back hasn’t outright said anything publicly—unless you want to try to interpret some vague social media posts—Lions general manager Brad Holmes certainly seemed to imply that there was some friction right now.
“Those are discussions that we’re going to have to have a lot more in depth in terms of what is the best plan for him going forward, is it somewhere else or whatever the case be,” Holmes said earlier this month. “Just really appreciate everything that he has done for us, if it does end up going that way. I hope it doesn’t because we love David Montgomery. He’s a good football player and wish that we would’ve been able to get more utilization from him. I know Dan (Campbell) feels the same way. But those are conversations that we’re going to have to have because I’ve got a lot of respect for that player. He deserves to be in a situation where his skillset can be utilized.”
In that statement, Holmes expressed a clear desire to keep him, but essentially admits his skillset was not optimally utilized this past year. Can that change this year with the addition of Drew Petzing as offensive coordinator and—hopefully—a team that is playing with the lead more often? Sure, but it sure sounds like Montgomery will need some convincing.
If he can’t be convinced, what would a trade look like? Well, don’t expect much for a back who will be 29 years old and comes with a $5.5 million salary. Here are the last six trades involving a running back:
- Tank Bigsby
- Eagles get: RB Tank Bigsby
- Jaguars get: 5th-round pick, 6th-round pick
- Brian Robinson
- 49ers get: RB Brian Robinson
- Commanders get: Conditional 6th-round pick
- Jordan Mason
- Vikings get: RB Jordan Mason, 6th-round pick
- 49ers get: 5th-round pick, future 6th-round pick
- Khalil Herbert
- Bengals get: RB Khalil Herbert
- Bears get: 7th-round pick
- Cam Akers
- Vikings get: RB Cam Akers, conditional 7th-round pick
- Texans get: Conditional 6th-round pick
- Joe Mixon
- Texans get: RB Joe Mixon
- Bengals get: 7th-round pick
So, at best the Lions are getting a fifth-round pick. More likely, they’re getting a sixth-round pick or a swap of late Day 3 picks. It’s not much, but it would be doing the player right and would also clear up nearly $5 million in cap space.
Personally, I think the Lions would be best served to mend fences with Montgomery—they’ve got enough holes to fill this offseason—but I do admire their insistence on working within Montgomery’s preferences.
