Detroit Lions fans were delivered some tough news to swallow on Monday morning when coach Dan Campbell revealed that starting center Cade Mays suffered an injury in training camp that will force him to miss “significant” time. Media reports suggest Mays has a broken bone in his wrist and will miss 8-10 weeks with the injury.
It’s particularly tough news, because the Lions clearly made upgrading the offensive line—and particularly the center position—a priority this offseason. Mays earned a three-year,
$25 million contract with Detroit, the most the Lions spent on an external free agent this offseason.
So what do the Lions do now? They clearly hold their offensive line to a very high standard, and we all saw what it looked like when that line doesn’t live up to that standard last year. So today’s Question of the Day is:
Do the Lions need to add another center after Cade Mays’ injury?
My answer: In an ideal world, sure. It would be great to just add another starting center. In reality, that’s going to be almost impossible unless Detroit would be willing to part with valuable draft assets.
Just think back to this past offseason. There were several center-needy teams and very few on the free agency market. That’s why Tyler Linderbaum got the ridiculous deal he got, and it’s why the Lions got aggressive with Mays.
This time of year, there aren’t likely many (if any) teams that would just be willing to part with their starting center. That’s going to increase the price. The Bears got Garrett Bradburry for a fifth-round pick, but the Patriots already had third-round pick Jared Wilson in place. With free agency and the draft well in the rear-view mirror, teams aren’t likely to have a sufficient backup plan in order to trade their starting center away.
There is maybe one exception: the Seattle Seahawks. Last year, the Seahawks had a camp battle for the starting center job between 2023 fifth-round pick Olu Oluwatimi and 2024 undrafted player Jalen Sundell. Oluwatimi suffered an injury in training camp, giving the job to Sundell, but Oluwatimi jumped back into the lineup when Sundell suffered a mid-season injury.
Now it appears Sundell has hold of the job again, leaving Oluwatimi—and his 13 career starts—as an option for Detroit. It seems realistic the Lions could possibly pull him from Seattle for a 2027 Day 3 pick, if they deem him as a fit.
What’s more likely, however, is the team rolls with what they’ve got. For one, while it sucks to lose Mays, he’s only projected to miss just over a month of the season. The Lions may not want to part with draft resources for a five or six-game band aid—particularly when that first leg of the schedule is relatively easy and includes zero divisional games. One player missing five games should not derail the entire season—and if it does, there were far bigger problems.
Additionally, the Lions likely want to explore the options they have. They’ve talked highly of a center they’ve already traded for, Juice Scruggs. The veteran lineman already has eight career starts at center—earning a respectable 64.5 PFF grade over that stretch (19th out of 38 qualifying centers).
Seth McLaughlin, who won the Rimington Trophy for best center in college football in 2024, is certainly an intriguing option as well. He hasn’t had a chance to prove himself in the pros while recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in 2024, but he’s already getting first-team reps in Detroit while Scruggs is sidelined.
My guess—and preference—is the Lions just roll what they’ve got, build that chemistry the best they can, then give the job back to Mays hopefully out of the team’s Week 6 bye.
Do you think the Lions should make a run at a new center? If so, who? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
