The Lions Have One Position Group That’s About to Vanish
We’re sitting here in the quiet part of the offseason, which means it’s time to dig into the salary cap spreadsheets and find new ways to worry about this team. And boy, did I find something worth worrying about.
The Lions have exactly zero tight ends signed beyond 2026. Zero.
Let that sink in for a second. Sam LaPorta, Tyler Conklin, Brock Wright, Zach Horton, Miles Kitselman, Thomas Gordon. Every single one of them hits free agency after 2026.
The LaPorta Question Changes Everything
Now, the expectation is that LaPorta gets extended at some point. The question is when, and that timing tells us everything we need to know about his back.
If Brad Holmes gets a deal done this offseason, that’s the front office saying they’re confident his back issues are behind him. If they wait until next offseason and let him play out his contract, well, that’s a different conversation entirely. That’s the Lions saying they need to see him hold up for a full season before they commit long-term money.
And if his back doesn’t hold up? Then we’re talking about finding a completely new tight end to build around.
A Total Position Reset Is Coming
Even if LaPorta gets his extension, the Lions are still looking at rebuilding the entire tight end room around him. Every other player at the position becomes a free agent, which means Holmes and his scouting department are about to get very familiar with tight end tape.
Calling my shot here: the Lions draft a tight end next year. It’s not exactly going out on a limb when you have zero depth signed beyond 2026, but sometimes the obvious move is the right move.
This is what happens when you build a team the right way. You get good problems instead of catastrophic ones. Instead of wondering if you have any NFL-caliber players at a position, you’re wondering which good players you can afford to keep.
Still, it’s a reminder that roster construction never stops, even when you’ve got one of the best tight ends in the league anchoring the position.
Are you worried about the tight end situation or is this just Brad Holmes doing Brad Holmes things? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
This is actually the opposite of a problem to me. We got LaPorta locked in at a position and the flexibility to build around him without being handcuffed by long-term deals. Holmes knows what he’s doing and I trust him to either extend Sam or find the next guy. Good problems hit different when you got confidence in your FO.
I get it, but I’m not gonna freak out just yet. Holmes has earned some rope here. That said, the timing on LaPorta’s extension matters way more than the article even goes into. If his back flares up again we could be in real trouble and I need to see them get ahead of that.
You know what, this is refreshing to worry about. Used to be we’d be worried about having ANY decent bodies at a position. The fact that we got a young stud at TE and people are just casually talking about drafting and building around him instead of praying for crumbs, that tells you how different things are now.