Pride of Detroit
Whenever a team makes a change to its coaching staff, the front office will often tap into the new coach’s familiarity with the upcoming free agents they have coached over their careers. This offseason, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes will have a chance to do this with new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and the 30+ players he’s familiar with who are set to become free agents in March.
Let’s take a look at the 2026 free agents whom Petzing has either directly coached or indirectly worked with over the last decade of his coaching career.
The Lions likely want to bring Kyle Allen back to backup Jared Goff, but if they’re unable to retain Allen or they want more competition, they may look to the free agent market. While Bridgewater is arguably the most talented, he seems likely to stick around in Florida (his home state), leaving Keenum the next best target amongst the group. While a 38-year-old QB3 from the Bears isn’t going to excite a fan base, there is some value in having a quarterback on the roster (or practice squad) who has a different perspective on the scheme and could help install some of the new concepts Petzing could be interested in implementing. Tune will have a chance to turn some heads with a strong performance in the UFL, but he’s facing an uphill battle.
Unless there is some movement with the David Montgomery situation, the Lions may not feel the need to address running back in free agency. After two tough seasons that ended his time in Cleveland, Chubb played the entire 2025 season but was in a diminishing role with Houston. He offers a similar skill set to Montgomery, but he’d be a downgrade at this stage of his career. Carter led the Cardinals’ backfield in rushing attempts this season with 92, as they used four different starters throughout the season. Knight actually started eight games to Carter’s five, but he had 10 fewer rushing attempts despite the extra starts. Demercado is the back with the most experience working with Petzing, but he didn’t start a game this season and is viewed as more of a third-down back.
