Taylor Decker agreed to put off retirement earlier this offseason, but it looks like the veteran left tackle will be seeking a second NFL employer.
The 10-year blocker announced on Instagram he is being released by the Lions (via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). Decker was set to earn $14.9MM in base salary next season; none of that amount was guaranteed. As our Detroit Offseason Outlook piece indicated, Decker was due a $1.5MM salary guarantee on March 15. Decker’s post reveals requested this release.
It sounds like the Lions were angling for a Decker pay cut, as the former first-round pick notes discussions were ongoing about his contract. Decker, 32, was tied to a three-year, $60MM deal that ran through the 2027 season. The Ohio State product played through injury last season, only missing three games. A year after the Lions lost center cornerstone Frank Ragnow, they are splitting up their Pro Bowl Decker-Penei Sewell tackle tandem.
This release will save Detroit $11.6MM in cap space, though it will also leave a significant void at a premium position. Decker has started 140 career games with the Lions since being the No. 16 overall pick in 2016. Decker’s 140 starts are the third-most by a tackle in Lions history — behind Jeff Backus and Lomas Brown.
An essential part of Dan Campbell‘s turnaround in Detroit, Decker made his first Pro Bowl in 2024 — after signing his $20MM-per-year extension. That was Decker’s third Lions contract, after he had signed a four-year, $59.65MM deal in 2020. Decker said after the season he would take extensive time to determine if an 11th NFL slate was in the cards for him. Although Decker recently announced he intends to play, it is worth wondering if he is open to continuing his career outside of Detroit.
When Decker missed much of the 2021 season, the Lions used then-rookie Sewell at left tackle. That could be an option once again, but Sewell has established himself as a dominant right tackle. Sewell suddenly represents the last man standing from the 2023 O-line that powered the Lions to the playoffs. Pro Football Focus graded Decker as the league’s No. 39 overall tackle last season and has been high on his play throughout his Detroit decade. He ranked ninth, per the advanced metrics site, in 2023 and landed his second Lions extension in July 2024.
In the spring, Decker underwent surgery to relieve pain in his shoulder caused by bone spurs in his rotator cuff. He began training camp on the active/PUP list as a result, and though he suited up for the start of the regular season, he did miss three last season due to a shoulder ailment. It will be interesting to see if Decker lands elsewhere soon,
Decker: Hey guess what guys, I’m coming back!
Lions: Nah we good
Wow
Looks like Brad Holmes got a good old dose of reality last year
100%. Lions fans didn’t see the drop off coming, but those of us who root for routinely successful teams during the salary cap era did. They’ve had to pay too many people and their OL, which was the first group to get to elite in 2022, is now old/replaced. That’s the life cycle in the NFL. It’s 3-4 years, and that’s with an elite QB. Goff isn’t that.
They are rebuilding. That doesn’t mean they’ll be terrible. But they’re going to have to hit on a bunch of picks to be elite again. Could happen. Holmes is good. But won’t be easy.
They really only need to rebuild their offensive line and already have an ace player on it.
Cb room. DE2. And they have no money. They have angry vets departing.
They didn’t do anything wrong. But it’s the cost of being good for 3 years in the nfl.
Goff was great when the OL was great. I watched him drop back to pass and he never even had to look left or right to see if there was a pass rush. That’s amazing. Last season he got hurried a little bit more and the offense wasn’t as effective. With them taking so many OL/coaching hits I don’t see them being explosive in 2026. They’re slowly turning into a pedestrian offense.
Agreed. Except for the Goff bit. Isn’t the definition of an elite player one who transcends regardless of what’s around him? It’s why I’ve always thought of Goff as a red chip player. Never a blue chip. A point guard, not a scoring guard, if you will.
A lot of QBs look better than they are when they have a great OL, or even great running game. Cam Newton comes to mind. Never forget Rex Grossman took the 2006 Bears to the Superbowl!
Exactly. Goff isn’t HIM. Hes good. Very good even. But he can’t make something out of nothing. That’s what the great ones consistently do.
He’ll probably still get decent money elsewhere the way tackle contracts are going. I bet he’ll still get $10-15 million for one year.
He could, though given that retirement has been seen as a possibility for a while, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him take his $100 million in career earnings and call it a day instead of playing for his second ever franchise at this stage.
Decker has not been that good for the past couple of seasons. Good move by the Lions to move on from him and hopefully use the savings on one of the top FA centers.
Is the expectation that Sewell will shift to LT now?
Guess : He didn’t want to take the pay cut the team wanted him to.
Assumption: Less than zero chance of trading 1st round picks for an edge rusher while needing 2-3 O-Line positions.
At least he hasnt retired yet like Dalman.
Thanks for your service, but it’s time to move on. He’s getting older, is injury-prone, costs too much and has steadily regressed each season.
I always though Decker was at his best when making power tools with Black 🙂