Detroit Lions Biggest Roster Hole That Still Hasn't Been Addressed

The Detroit Lions have focused almost exclusively on the offensive side of the ball throughout the first two days of the NFL's legal tampering period.

Aside from re-signing a pair of defenders, the Lions have prioritized retooling their offense through the early part of free agency. In Cade Mays and Larry Borom, the Lions added two potential starters to their offensive line. Isiah Pacheco figures to be the team's second option at running back, while Teddy Bridgewater provides a good veteran presence in the quarterback room behind Jared Goff.

While the team has committed some resources to uphold their defense, they have some holes on their depth chart. The Lions have elected to bring back linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and cornerback Rock Ya-Sin on one-year deals, but lost Alex Anzalone, Amik Robertson and Roy Lopez already.

General manager Brad Holmes is tasked with getting the Lions to a cap-compliant spot by the start of the new league year, which begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. This could signal some contract restructures coming, and that would give the Lions more spending power.

Additionally, one of the biggest holes on Kelvin Sheppard's defense that hasn't been addressed yet is at the defensive end position. Aidan Hutchinson is one of the best in the game, but aside from him the Lions have just two players at the position under contract.

Al-Quadin Muhammad and Marcus Davenport, both of whom played significant roles, are both free agents. Joining Hutchinson on the roster are Ahmed Hassanein and Josh Paschal, both of whom did not play a single snap for the Lions in 2025.

Because of the potential for two departures opposite of their talented EDGE, the Lions need to be proactive and bring in another experienced defensive end who can take some of the pressure off of Hutchinson.

Muhammad played that role admirably last season, with a career-best 11 sacks, and remains unsigned through the first two days. He's certainly a candidate to return, while Davenport's injury history throughout his career could lead the team to move on.

Potential targets

Detroit has the potential to still make a splash at this position in a couple of ways. For starters, a big wrench was thrown in the NFL offseason when the Baltimore Ravens backed out of their trade for Maxx Crosby. One of the best EDGE defenders in the game, Crosby failed his physical and as a result will be returned to the Raiders.

The asking price for the talented defender will almost certainly come down, and the awkwardness of the situation could lead the Raiders to want to make another deal quickly. While acquiring Crosby would inherently come with an injury risk, adding him would create one of the best EDGE tandems in all of football.

Top free agent Trey Hendrickson was available for the first two days, but Baltimore pivoted to him when they backed out of the Crosby deal. Other top-end free agents at the position still available include Joey Bosa and Haason Reddick.

The defensive end position is one that is dangerously thin on Detroit's roster, and as a result Holmes needs to make a move to upholster the depth at the very least. If anything, the Lions' lack of action in this spot seems to indicate that they could be courting the idea of drafting one early in April's draft.