Detroit Lions 2026 Draft: Complete Recap

Analyzing how well the Lions accomplished their goals of health and needs

With the Detroit Lions 2026 NFL Draft now complete, let’s take a look at the draft class as a whole and how it affected the team health, age, needs, and salary cap.

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1:41 AM · Apr 26, 2026 · 172K Views

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Detroit Lions 2026 Draft Class

Here is the class with the estimated contract value per Spotrac. All are 4-year deals. The 1st-round contracts have been fully guaranteed for many years. Last year’s #44 pick had about 90% of his contract guaranteed.

• Round 1, #17: Blake Miller, OT (Clemson) - $21.87M total

• Round 2, #44: Derrick Moore, EDGE (Michigan) - $11.43M total

• Round 4, #118: Jimmy Rolder, LB (Michigan) - $5.40M total

• Round 5, #157: Keith Abney II, CB (Arizona State) - $4.74M total

• Round 5, #168: Kendrick Law, WR (Kentucky) - $4.75M total

• Round 6, #205: Skyler Gill-Howard, DT (Texas Tech) - $4.5M total

• Round 7, #222: Tyre West, DL (Tennessee) - $4.41 million total

How did the draft help the Lions salary cap?

The Lions salary cap is tight due to the expensive recent extensions of…

• Jared Goff

• Amon-Ra St. Brown

• Jameson Williams

• Penei Sewell

• Aidan Hutchinson

• Alim McNeill

• Kerby Joseph

Add in the likely extensions to Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell and possibly Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta, and you have a team that must find value at high-priced positions.

By adding two premium positions in the draft (OT & EDGE), the Lions are getting projected starters at an incredible value. At OT, Blake Miller’s yearly average is about $5.5M, while Taylor Decker’s contract averaged $20M yearly.

At EDGE, Derrick Moore’s contract averages less than $3M yearly, while the top free-agent EDGE this year, Jaelan Phillips, got $30M yearly.

These are enormous savings across multiple years if Miller and Moore pan out.

Did the Lions get healthier in the draft?

Here are the Medical Concern Levels along with age at start of 2026 season:

• 1/10 - Blake Miller (22)

• 2/10 - Derrick Moore (23)

• 3/10 - Jimmy Rolder (22)

• 0/10 - Keith Abney (21)

• 1/10 - Kendrick Law (22)

• 4/10 - Skyler Gill-Howard (23)

• 2/10 - Tyre West (23)

All the Lions’ draft picks were on the lower side of concern on my Medical Big Board, topping out at a 4/10 concern. Five of the seven were are 2/10 or less which is a low-to-minimal concern.

The Lions added a significant number of healthy players to the team and avoided taking any chances on high-risk prospects.

Did the Lions get younger in the draft?

All the Lions’ draft picks are 23 or younger, with four of the seven at 22 or younger.

The 2026 NFL Draft had a high percentage of prospects who were at least 24-years-old. According to Ravens GM, Eric DeCosta, 18% of the 2026 prospects were age 24+.

The absence of any older draftees by the Lions seems likely an intentional plan to prioritize youth.

How did the Lions’ draft philosophy mesh with free agency?

This draft result is consistent with what the Lions did in free agency, which was to dramatically reduce the team age and injury concerns.

Here is a re-print of charts from my Lions Offseason Health Review: Additions vs Subtractions that display the offseason roster changes. As you can see, there has been a noticeable shift in the roster towards younger, healthier players.

Did the Lions address their positional needs?

Here was the order of my Positional Need Rankings entering the draft along with the actual picks.

1. OT - Blake Miller (1st Round)

2. EDGE - Derrick Moore (2nd Round trade up)

3. Safety

4. CB - Keith Abney (5th Round)

5. TE

6. DT - Skyler Gill-Howard (6th Round), Tyre West (7th Round)

7. RB

8. IOL

9. LB - Jimmy Rolder (4th Round)

10. QB

11. WR - Kendrick Law (5th Round trade up)

The Lions nailed their top two needs early in the draft with the help of an aggressive trade-up in Round 2 for Derrick Moore.

After that, it looks like Brad Holmes eschewed need to go purely BPA (best player available). He even traded up for WR Kendrick Law which was my lowest positional need.

Later in the draft, I thought the Lions might target a TE, safety, & RB. Those positions have significant injury concerns among the returning players, and could have used long-term, healthy bodies.

Sometimes though, the board just doesn’t fall the way you want - as Brad Holmes expressed regarding the safety position.

Bottom Line for Lions 2026 Draft

The Lions filled their top two needs in this draft while also prioritizing youth and health. Looking at it from a medical and fan perspective, this was a successful draft.

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For the full medical reports on the Lions picks…