While you’re trying to be a better person in 2026, there’s no reason the Detroit Lions shouldn’t be doing the same. And just in case they aren’t working on their own New Year’s resolution list, I’ve got one prepared for them right here.
Here are five things the Lions should do this year to make 2026 a much better year than 2025.
Get healthy, stay healthy
Yes, we’re going to start out with the most stereotypical resolution of all—and this one doesn’t require a gym membership that is impossible to cancel. The Detroit Lions need
to spend the early parts of the year rehabbing. That includes key players like Sam LaPorta, Terrion Arnold, Brian Branch, and Kerby Joseph.
Beyond that, they need to find a way to stay healthy in 2026. It’s getting quite ridiculous for this team to constantly find themselves at the top of lists of games lost due to injury. I’m not here to call out the medical staff, because, quite frankly, I don’t know enough about what they do and don’t do to blame them for Detroit’s injury situation. But, obviously, this should be an area of focus this offseason to find some answers. Revamp the prehab program, update the workout equipment, move their training facility off of sacred burial grounds. Do whatever it takes to get through the 2026 season with even an average amount of injuries.
Center yourself
At the heart of the Lions’ identity is their offensive line. A good one opens up the run game, and allows a pocket quarterback like Jared Goff to operate cleanly and surgically.
At the heart of the offensive line is one of the most underrated positions in football: center. After suddenly losing Frank Ragnow to a June retirement, the Lions had to scramble to find a replacement. They weren’t in the worst position, with two in-home options: veteran Graham Glasgow and rookie Tate Ratledge. Unfortunately, neither really worked out. Ratledge, a college guard, was given a couple week of reps at center in training camp before Detroit pulled that plug. Glasgow won the job, and while he brought the necessary smarts and experience to the position, the body just isn’t holding up like it used to for the 33-year-old.
In 2026, there is no clear answer. Glasgow is a pretty clear candidate as a cap casualty ($8.4 million cap hit with only $2.9 million in guarantees left), and he may also just choose to retire. Ratledge at center is still “on the table,” but that comes with its own risks and shifts the vacancy to right guard.
A more tolerable solution is to invest in a plug-and-play veteran who can provide some smarts and stability from Week 1 on. The free agency pool looks decent right now, with Tyler Linderbaum and Connor McGovern leading the class, but who knows if either will actually hit the market?
Plan for retirement
No 401Ks needed, but the Lions could use a little more foresight in planning for the aging parts of their roster. It’s unclear if the Ragnow retirement caught the Lions off-guard, but it’s clear they didn’t do a good enough job preparing for the situation.
With Taylor Decker, Graham Glasgow, and even Dan Skipper possibly playing their last game in the NFL this week, Detroit needs to figure out how they plan to transition to a new offensive line. They have some young options in Ratledge, Christian Mahogany, Miles Frazier, and Giovanni Manu, but only half of those are currently on a trajectory to start. In truth, the Lions probably need to invest in at least three new offensive linemen capable of starting to help move into this new era of Lions offensive football.
Reduce stress—on your secondary
I’m still fairly convinced the Detroit Lions have a pretty talented secondary. Obviously, the long-term injuries at safety are concerning, but D.J. Reed looked solid before his hamstring injury, Terrion Arnold was making some strides before his shoulder injury, and—if brought back—Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-Sin, Avonte Maddox, and even Nick Whiteside can provide some strong play as depth.
Unfortunately, these players were all put in really tough positions by a lackluster pass rush and a scheme that asks too much of these players. The Lions may have produced the sixth-highest pressure rate in the league this year (37.5%), but the time it took to create that pressure was far too long (2.86, 28th). That left a secondary—too often playing man-to-man—to cover for far too long, and it resulted in a ton of explosive plays through the air.
The Lions’ resolution should be two-fold: find players who can create pressure quicker, and find a game plan or scheme that doesn’t put your talented outside cornerbacks in vulnerable positions.
Make new friends
It’s time for this regime to get some fresh ideas in the building. I completely understand why the Lions chose the coordinator successors they did. There is something to be said about stability in scheme and game plan that oftentimes leads to success, and having succession plans to make sure a successful unit stays successful makes sense.
But it just didn’t work out in 2025. John Morton got his play-calling duties stripped around the halfway mark, and the Lions never managed to find a consistent run game. Kelvin Sheppard went through some expected bumps and bruises as a first-time coordinator, but his defense regressed as the season went on, when the expectation should be improvement.
I’m not necessarily suggesting wholescale changes at both coordinator positions, but Detroit should seriously consider adding some senior assistants that can come in and challenge the existing staff’s overall philosophy and scheme stubbornness. It’s fair to wonder if this team’s defensive ideology is outdated and in need of a tweak or complete overhaul.
So find some new friends, get out of your echo chamber, and open up your mind to fresh ideas.
