Lions urged to cut bait on 91-tackle former 1st-round pick ahead of 2026 season

The Detroit Lions are in an interesting position this offseason. 

The team is coming off a disappointing season in which they failed to make the postseason. However, it's still just a few seasons removed from making the NFC Championship Game. This is still one of the most talented rosters in the league, so it's not hard to imagine a return to contention soon. 

However, when you're in win-now mode like the Lions, you can't afford to be overly patient with players. As a result, there could be a notable Lion on the trade block ahead of Week 1. 

Lions urged to trade Terrion Arnold ahead of 2026 season

Moe Moton of Bleacher Report recently identified one player each NFL team should trade ahead of the 2026 season. For the Lions, Moton identified former first-round pick Terrion Arnold. 

Regarding this selection, Moton offered the following:

Terrion Arnold enters a crucial third season after two inconsistent years. He's yet to play up to first-round expectations.

Last year, Arnold allowed a passer rating of 101.5. He also missed nine games because of injuries.

The Detroit Lions will likely give Arnold another year to rebound from an underwhelming career start, but they re-signed Rock Ya-Sin, who can be a short-term starter.

As Moton mentioned, Arnold has not exactly lived up to his first-round billing so far. The corner had an up-and-down rookie year, which is to be expected, but his 2025 season was inconsistent and shortened by injuries. 

Even when Arnold was in the field in 2025, he wasn't nearly as good as he needs to be. The corner earned a 52.6 overall Pro Football Focus grade, which ranked 97th out of 114 qualified corners. 

Trading Arnold now makes sense because if the corner has another down year, he'll officially be in "bust" territory. If they trade him now, the asking price can still be decent because of his youth and status as a first-rounder. 

Plenty of teams would be willing to take a chance on a first-round talent at corner. And, as Moton pointed out, the Lions have other capable corners like Rock Ya-Sin, Roger McCreary, and D.J. Reed. 

Still, it's probably more likely that the Lions will give Arnold one more shot. The corner was a first-round pick for a reason, and if he can play up to his potential, the Lions will actually have a very solid secondary. 

Can Lions contend again in 2026? 

As mentioned above, the Lions can't be happy with the way 2025 went down, but is there hope for 2026? Well, the unfortunate thing for the Lions is that they play in one of the toughest conferences in football.

 The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are both coming off playoff appearances and both are projected to contend again this year. You can also never count out the Minnesota Vikings, who are hoping Kyler Murray can turn their franchise around. 

It will be tough, but the Lions are definitely talented enough to make it back to the postseason. 

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