As the 2026 NFL draft approaches, the Detroit Lions are vetting a plethora of fresh talent for the team, but that also means they’ll have to say farewell to veteran players when the time is right.
It’s always a give-and-take between having rookies on the squad with energy and health vs. having veterans with experience and knowhow. The ideal situation is to have a mix of both, and thankfully, the Detroit Lions have that going into the 2026-27 season.
But, for one player who’s still on a four-year contract may have his time with the Detroit Lions cut short. That’s the case being made by an analyst looking at the team’s current, and future, situation.
Detroit Lions May Cut Ties With Defensive Tackle Sooner Than Expected
So, which Lion is on thin ice? In a piece out on Tuesday, April 21, for Detroit Jock City, Andrew Hughes makes the case that Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill may part ways with the team.
McNeill is under contract for three more years. The Lions re-signed him to a large, four-year, $97 million extension in the middle of the 2024 season, according to research from Spotrac, and he was dubbed the most overpaid position in the league in 2025 by Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report.
“McNeill is a quality run defender who flashes occasionally as a pass-rusher. But he’s never had more than five sacks in a season and has just 11.5 for his career,” Davenport noted at the time.
He added, “Players making upward of $25 million a season are expected to be game-wreckers. And just when he was showing some potential to be one, he tore up his knee.”
Why the Detroit Lions May Have to Find a Way to Part With $97 Million Player
As Hughes points out in his feature, after coming back from an ACL injury sustained in December 2024, McNeill appeared in 10 games last season and collected nine solo tackles, one sack and a forced fumble. He has a 52.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which is not strong and puts him in the bottom half of defensive tackles in the league. That’s not exactly worth a $97 million deal.
“McNeill is under contract for three more years that guarantees him $55 million,” Hughes states in the piece. “That was signed following a five-sack 2023 season in which he ranked No. 6 overall for PFF’s rankings, however, and McNeill’s deal is starting to age poorly after an underwhelming 2025 campaign.”
Depending what the Lions do in the draft, they could be in a good position to replace McNeill. As Hughes notes, taking Cincinnati Bearcats’ Dontay Corleone or Clemson Tigers‘ Peter Woods would set them up nicely for the future.
“McNeill isn’t going anywhere just yet, and will still be featured in Kelvin Sheppard’s schemes,” Hughes says. “But Detroit may just be adding a player that will set the stage for the Lions to trade McNeill if/when his value rises again this coming fall.”
Frankly, I think it’s hard to envision the team seeing McNeill’s contract to fruition. He has ridiculous contract numbers, and he’s a solid player but not as great as his contract implies. As I see it, either the Detroit Lions renegotiate him in a big way or find another home for him in the future.
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