Pro Football Rumors
Tackle loomed as a priority target for the Lions, who were interested in trading up from their No. 17 spot. The Lions made the Rams an offer for No. 13 and showed interest in Kadyn Proctor previously, but the NFC North club ultimately ended up staying put. Clemson’s Blake Miller arrived at 17, and he is positioned to join Penei Sewell as Detroit’s starting tackles.
Larry Borom, however, is still in the mix to delay Miller’s ascent. The veteran free agent signing will compete with Miller for the Lions’ starting RT job in camp, DetroitLions.com’s Tim Twentyman notes. Borom spent much of last season as the Dolphins’ starting right tackle, stepping in after Austin Jackson‘s latest injury, and signed a one-year, $5MM deal on Day 1 of the legal tampering period.
[RELATED: Lions Also Set To Hold LG Camp Competition]
Borom and Miller split reps throughout Detroit’s offseason program, and while the first-round pick may be the favorite, Borom may not be automatically relegated to swing duty. Borom’s contract and history suggest that is where the Lions want this to end up, but the veteran will have a chance to serve as a bridge presence at the very least.
A Detroit native, Borom is a sixth-year vet who has 38 starts on his resume. He stands to give the Lions some protection in the event Miller needs more seasoning. The Lions had both Sewell and Taylor Decker, the latter drafted under previous GM Bob Quinn, ready as Week 1 starters out of the first round. Both spent their rookie seasons at left tackle, with Sewell sliding there after Decker’s September 2021 injury. Sewell returned to RT in 2022 and became an All-Pro, but the Lions are preparing to transition the former No. 7 overall pick back to the blind side after releasing Decker this offseason. Decker remains unsigned.
The Dolphins gave Borom a career-high 11 starts last season. Pro Football Focus graded him 58th among qualified tackles. Borom, 27, has never ranked inside the top 50 at his position. The Missouri product-turned-Bears fifth-rounder lost his job as a starter early during his rookie-contract stay.
The Ryan Pace draftee became the team’s RT hopeful post-Bobby Massie but lost his job during his second season. Borom worked as a Chicago swingman after the team’s Darnell Wright draft choice and signed a one-year, $2.5MM Dolphins deal last year. Doubling that this offseason, Borom has a chance to create a better market for 2027 — when Miller presumably will have positioned himself as the Lions’ RT starter.
Miller moving to the bench to open his rookie season would be quite the adjustment, as he started 54 games and, as our Connor Byrne noted on draft night, played a Clemson-record 3,778 offensive snaps. He earned two second-team All-ACC honors after landing on the third team in 2023. Miller certainly appears to be the Lions’ hopeful long-term RT, and with Sewell on a Hall of Fame trajectory and set to be entrenched at LT, the team...
