Pride of Detroit
The next installment in our training camp preview series looks at the Detroit Lions’ linebacker group.
In this installment of our Detroit Lions 2025 training camp preview series, we examine the Lions’ linebackers, speculate on current and future roles, and discuss how many players from this group could make the 53-man roster.
Previous training camp previews:
Entering 2024, the Lions finally had players in their correct positional roles, and as a whole, were experienced enough to be a force on defense. Unfortunately, the starting trio of Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell, and Derrick Barnes only lasted three games before Barnes landed on injured reserve.
For the first half of the season, the Lions were able to get by with only losing Barnes, but it wasn’t long before injuries began to pile up. Malcolm Rodriguez was injured, and Abraham Beauplan was briefly (two weeks) signed for depth. Jalen Reeves-Maybin landed on injured reserve, and the Lions signed Ezekiel Turner. When Anzalone broke his forearm and landed on IR, the Lions signed David Long. When Rodriguez tore his ACL and landed on IR, Kwon Alexander was signed and was eventually replaced by Anthony Pittman. Reeves-Maybin and Anzalone returned to action, and Long was released near the end of the season. It was a whirlwind final 10 games for the linebacker room, which at one point had four of their top five players on injured reserve.
Entering 2025, the Lions opened the offseason with four of their top five linebackers under contract: Campbell, Anzalone (who is reportedly looking for a new contract), Rodriguez (who is expected to be out until November), and Reeves-Maybin, who was eventually released in a salary cap savings move.
To help stabilize the room, the Lions quickly re-signed Barnes to a three-year contract, then re-signed Turner, Pittman, Trevor Nowaske (ERFA tender), and practice squader DaRon Gilbert (futures) to one-year deals. Additionally, Grant Stuard was given a fully guaranteed one-year contract in free agency and will likely be a Reeves-Maybin replacement. Beauplan was also signed this offseason; however, he was released before OTAs when the Lions signed Zach Cunningham.
Under the Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell regime, the Lions have heavily leaned on their linebacker group to contribute on special teams, which is why they tend to keep a larger number of linebackers than other teams. Six has previously been the magic number when speculating roster decisions, but things could be changing with the introduction of the SAM role.
Let’s take a look at what they’ve done at linebacker in the previous four seasons:
