During the NFL offseason, sometimes the news is a bit more light-hearted than what goes on during the regular season, when injuries and blockbuster trade deals make headlines. In that spirit, on Wednesday, April 15, the Detroit Lions announced some nostalgia-inducing news about two of their popular players.
On Wednesday, the first fully-licensed Topps football card set in 10 years reached stores. What took so long? Well, Fanatics landed exclusive trading card licenses for the NBA and NFL from their competition, Panini America, a while back, and Fanatics’ NFL deal officially started on April 1, according to The Athletic.
So, the first item released under Fanatics’ new agreement is 2025 Topps Chrome Football, a set of modern trading cards that’s already in demand. Prices for these cards started going up before they were even released. Now, two Lions players are being celebrated in that set.
Detroit Lions Share That Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs Are Featured in Playing Card Set
On Wednesday, the Detroit Lions took to social media to share that Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs are in the just-released Topps Chrome packs.
“A Jahmyr Gibbs 1/1 would be amazing to pull,” one follower commented after hearing the news. “My life would be accomplished,” another said.
So, it’s cool to see a pair of Detroit Lions included in the set. Clay Luraschi, Fanatics Collectibles’ senior vice president of global product development, spoke with The Athletic about the cards and the launch.
“A ton of people have worked on this. It’s something that we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into,” Luraschi told Benjamin Burrows of the outlet. “We knew it would have some natural impact. We made sure that this had all the components that it needs to be a successful launch â better than successful, the best launch.”
Detroit Lions Have Just a Few Days to Figure Out 2026 NFL Draft Strategy
Switching gears to the upcoming 2026 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions have just a few days left to get their picks in order. The event takes place April 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In his Wednesday, April 15 mock, Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN has the Lions going with offensive tackle Monroe Freeling of Georgia with the team’s No. 17 pick. Freeling comes in at 6’7″ and 315-pounds, with long arms, which means “he can erase pass rushers with his quickness and handwork.”
“His 18 starts of experience might worry some teams, but I’d bet Detroit would be happy to land Freeling in this range,” Kiper adds. “He has a ton of potential, and the Lions were 31st in pass block win rate last season (55.5%). Because Freeling played left tackle at Georgia, Penei Sewell could stick on the right side, too.”
The Detroit Lions need a replacement for Taylor Decker at left tackle, and Freeling along with Larry Borom would get the job done. It’s no secret that the Lions are looking to nab a tackle in the 2026 NFL draft, and Freeling keeps popping up as a name who would be a good fit, so this seems almost like a done deal. But not as much a done deal, of course, as Fernando Mendoza going to the Las Vegas Raiders.
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