Defensive injuries have become an ongoing trend during this mid-2020s Lions resurgence. While no position group has been spared here, Detroit entered last season limited at defensive tackle. Neither Alim McNeill nor Levi Onwuzurike were available, and the latter did not play at all in 2025.
McNeill, whose ACL tear was among the slew of injuries Detroit endured during its 15-2 2024 season, did not make his debut until Week 7 of last season. He joined Onwuzurike on the Lions’ reserve/PUP list to start the campaign. McNeill, whom the Lions extended two months before his injury in 2024, played 10 games last season but said he was not fully healthy. That has since changed.
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Describing himself as limited in his first season back from ACL rehab, McNeill said (via DetroitLions.com’s Tim Twentyman) there is a “night and day” difference between then and now in terms of health. That is certainly welcome news for the Lions, who gave the former third-round pick a four-year, $97MM extension. The interior disruptor accompanies 2025 first-round pick Tyleik Williams as centerpieces of Detroit’s defensive line.
“Just being able to connect the mind and the body. Just my brain being able to know this leg is good and I can step and plant here,” McNeill said. “If you don’t have an inside rush, it doesn’t matter what you do. It’s what I’m here to do and what I’m going to do.”
McNeill, 26, finished last season with just one sack and two tackles for loss; the latter figure represented a career-low mark. McNeill had recorded at least six TFLs in each of the previous three seasons, combining for 19 from 2022-24. The high-priced D-lineman tallied just three quarterback hits; he combined for 24 over the previous three seasons. The Lions will be expecting a return to form in McNeill’s sixth season. His contract carries a full guarantee for 2026 and a $3MM guarantee in 2027.
McNeill heads up a Lions interior D-line corps that still includes Owuzurike, whose 2025 contract tolled due to him spending a full season on the team’s reserve/PUP list in a contract year (h/t Detroit Football’s Justin Rogers), to go with Williams, free agency addition Jay Tufele, third-year player Mekhi Wingo and sixth-round rookie Skyler Gill-Howard.