Nolan Bianchi and Richard Silva on Lions’ positional needs in 2026 offseason
Nolan and Silva take a look at four players the Lions should let go and four players they should keep.
The man they call “Rodrigo” is on his way back to the Detroit Lions.
Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez on Tuesday reached a one-year pact to stay in Detroit, a league source told The Detroit News, becoming the first defender and in-house free agent to re-sign with the Lions in this free-agency period. The financial value of the contract is not immediately known.
Rodriguez, 26, is a former sixth-round pick who started in 15 games during his rookie season, right after he became a star on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” but has since seen his role reduced through the emergence of Derrick Barnes and the drafting of Jack Campbell.
Still, he’s been a crucial special-teams player and a dependable reserve. He made six starts during a hellacious 2024 season in which half the starting defense spent time on injured reserve before eventually experiencing a season-ending injury of his own, a torn ACL. That recovery lingered into next season, when he returned to make seven appearances with one start, compiling 12 tackles.
Is Rodriguez the replacement for Alex Anzalone?
The Lions finally added — or in this case, retained — a defensive player in free agency after losing several key pieces, including linebacker and defensive captain Alex Anzalone, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a two-year deal.
While some critics noted a drop in play over Anzalone’s last season in Detroit, backfilling his role, and particularly, his pass coverage, is no easy task — and one that Rodriguez might not be equipped to fill. They’re not only two different players in terms of caliber and past production, but also stylistically. Anzalone’s strength (his coverage ability) is probably Rodriguez’s biggest weakness.
It’s entirely possible that Rodriguez adds some of these skills entering next season, but from a projection standpoint, it’s hard to believe that the Lions think Rodriguez is ready to fill the specific role that Anzalone handled so well, even in a season where he might’ve lost a step.
Related: Alex Anzalone pens farewell letter to Detroit: ‘Gave everything I had’
Will the Lions add more linebackers?
Following the move, Detroit now has three linebackers on the roster: Rodriguez, Campbell and Barnes. That might be enough to field a starting unit, but the Lions have a long way to go before that position is fully settled.
So, in short: yes, they will add more linebackers. But will they add another starting-caliber linebacker? That is the question. Rodriguez hasn’t shown enough to solidify himself as a starter, and Barnes struggled with consistency in the first year of his three-year, $25.5 million deal. Though Campbell emerged as a First-Team All-Pro last season, the Lions’ defense still struggled as a whole, and downgrading one of your best units — at a position defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard played and coached — feels like a development the Lions should try to avoid.
We’d expect the Lions to keep searching for a quality starter in free agency. But with two starters in place and a solid depth piece signed, perhaps the Lions feel comfortable enough to wait until the draft for further reinforcements.
@nolanbianchi
@nolanbianchi
