One Lions Concern That Hasn't Been Solved Yet (And How They Can Fix It)

The Detroit Lions are facing adversity after a significant injury to one of their top free agent signings.

Center Cade Mays, who signed a three-year deal with the expectation of being the team's starting center of the future, suffered a wrist injury that could sideline him for two months in 2026. As a result, the Lions are looking for the next best option to play one of the most important positions in the game.

For nearly a decade, the Lions had one of the best in the game at the position in Frank Ragnow. However, Ragnow retired prior to last season. While Graham Glasgow was serviceable in that position, the Lions elected to move on and eventually landed Mays in free agency.

Now, however, the Lions' best laid plans have gone awry. They currently have two primary options at the spot in veteran Juice Scruggs, who they landed in the David Montgomery trade, and Seth McLaughlin.

After playing collegiately at Alabama and Ohio State, McLaughlin went undrafted and spent his rookie year with the Cincinnati Bengals before landing in Detroit on a futures contract this offseason. Now, he finds himself competing for a significant role.

This position battle at center is one of the primary concerns for the Lions currently, as they are facing uncertainty at the pivot spot. With the importance of the center position to the overall offense's operation, the Lions need to find an answer that suffices and can play at a high level in Mays' absence.

Because Mays could be out for a significant stretch of the regular season, the Lions have multiple options and will need to find a sustainable option. Throughout the early stages of this new competition, Scruggs has reportedly been up and down.

It should be noted that Scruggs was recently sidelined for multiple days due to a soft-tissue injury, and as a result some of his struggles could be attributed to rust from missing time. However, with the season quickly approaching it's important for him to get up to speed quickly.

McLaughlin, meanwhile, had a solid showing in the first preseason game and appears to be playing at a serviceable level in practices.

Essentially, the Lions have three options at this stage of training camp. The first two options involve their in-house choices, with either Scruggs or McLaughlin manning the position. Of the two, Scruggs has the versatility to play either guard spot as well as center that makes his path to a roster spot smoother.

Because Scruggs could provide depth at guard as well as center, he has value on the roster. McLaughlin, meanwhile, is more unproven at the spot as well as untested with his versatility.

There is a third avenue the Lions could travel in the event they are unsatisfied, and it's one that general manager Brad Holmes has utilized in the past. In recent years, Holmes has been active on the waiver wire following final roster cuts and he could target a center if there are solid options available.

Time will tell exactly what the Lions will have to work with in terms of options, but Holmes has traditionally filed his initial final roster with an open roster spot to allow for roster moves in the following hours.

Holmes could do this again and target a center off of waivers. There are pros and cons to this approach, as the options could not be up to standard, and even if they do add an external option there could be challenges with getting the player up to speed within their offensive scheme on a short turnaround.

Ultimately, the abrupt retirement of Ragnow and ensuing struggles point to the importance of having a steady option at center. Mays isn't expected to miss the season, but could miss several games in the regular season and the start of the year could be a definining stretch for a team looking to bounce back from a last-place finish last year.

As a result, it's paramount that the Lions get the center position worked out quickly and find a way to ensure their offensive line is in a good spot entering the regular season.

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