The Lions granted LT Taylor Decker‘s request to be released this offseason after the team approached him about a pay cut.
Appearing on the Lions Collective podcast, Lions beat writer Justin Rogers spoke on Decker’s future after interviewing him for an article. He believes the longtime Lion is against playing for former division rival Bears or Packers because of his time with Detroit.
“He wants to play for a winner. Yet he’s kind of thinking about, ‘Is it cheap to go win somewhere else after you’ve invested all your energy emotionally and physically into one franchise?’” Rogers said. “I will tell you that he’s pretty anti-playing for the Bears or Packers. That’s the Lions background in him. I know Ben Johnson did it and that was the right situation for him, but Taylor feels kind of dirty about the idea. It just isn’t interesting to him.”
Furthermore, Rogers believes Decker could wait until the season starts to find the right situation, or not play at all if none of the potential suitors make sense for him.
“I could see him joining a team mid-season, the further he gets away from football and games being played, injuries happening and the right offer occurs. I could also see him not playing.”
Rogers also brought up Decker’s desire to re-sign a one-day contract with Detroit to retire a Lion.
Decker, 32, is a former first-round pick of the Lions back in 2016. He was in the final year of a four-year, $10.967 million contract when the Lions picked up his fifth-year option.
Decker was set to make a base salary of $10,350,000 for the 2020 season and was in line to be an unrestricted free agent in 2021 before the Lions signed him to a six-year, $85 million deal.
Detroit re-signed Decker once again in July of 2024, when the two sides agreed on a three-year, $60 million extension. However, he was released following the 2025 season.
In 2025, Decker appeared in and started 14 games for the Lions at left tackle. Pro Football Focus had him graded as the No. 39 tackle out of 84 qualifying players.
We have him included in our Top 100 Available NFL Free Agents list.
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