Pride of Detroit
Breaking down all the Detroit Lions UFA, RFA, and ERFA free agents for the 2025 offseason.
As the Detroit Lions shift into the 2025 offseason, they have 48 players who finished the season on the roster—on either the 53-man roster, practice squad, or injured reserve—that are not currently under contract with the organization.
Let’s take a look at the four different groups those players can fall into, as well as which players land in those groups.
Unrestricted free agents are players on expiring contracts who have at least four accrued seasons of NFL experience. While they do not currently hold a contract with the Lions, Detroit can negotiate a potential new deal at any time. If they have not reached an agreement with the Lions by March 10, 2025—when the free agent tampering period begins—these players below can begin negotiations with other NFL franchises.
Note: Starters are bolded.
Street free agents are players who finished the season on the Lions practice squad but were not offered a futures contract. Because practice squad contracts expire seven days after a team's final game, the Lions practice players are set to become SFAs on January 25**.**
(NOTE: the Lions are expected to begin offering futures contracts in the next few days)
The difference between a UFA and an SFA is that SFAs do not have to wait until March to negotiate a contract with another team, as they are immediately eligible to open up contract talks with all 32 teams.
Restricted free agents are players on expiring contracts but they only have three accrued seasons in the NFL. Like with UFAs and SFAs, the Lions can enter contract negotiations at any time, but they also have the ability to offer a one-year tender to each of these players.
The one-year tenders fall into three categories:
