Taylor Decker Leaves Lions, Opens Tackle Spot

0:00NFL stories making news on March 6th, veteran offensive tackle Taylor Decker is leaving the Detroit Lions after they released him on Friday. The 33-year-old had announced last month that he wants to keep playing through the 2026 season, but not with Detroit. Decker still had two years left on his deal, including $14,900,000 set for this year. The move came after talks where the team apparently pushed for a pay cut that didn't happen. This frees up more than $11 million in salary cap space for the Lions, though it leaves over $9 million in dead money behind. Fans and analysts see it as a tough but necessary call to manage the books. Now, Detroit faces a big need to tackle, heading into training camp. They have star-prone suel locked in and could slide him to the left side while hunting a new right tackle starter. The Lions plan to hit the market hard for options, but details on their exact lineup remain up in the air for now. DNN is sponsored by our partner.