After losing veteran depth in the linebacker room, the Detroit Lions need a run-stopper and a leader. Free-agent linebacker Shaq Thompson provides both. He's trying to provide it for his most recent employer, but that's not going well, and it could all work out in the Lions' favor.
The Buffalo Bills are not doing an obvious thing and re-signing the Green Dot linebacker, even though Thompson is publicly advocating to return to Western New York on social media (h/t BillsLead). The soon-to-be-32-year-old replied with "trying to" when a fan asked if he had spoken to the Bills about a potential return.
With it sounding like the Bills aren't giving Thompson the light of day, Lions general manager Brad Holmes must work the phone lines to lure the free-agent LB to the Motor City.
Shaq Thompson Would Fit Lions Like a Glove
It's obvious that Thompson making negotiations public is a way to dredge up fan support to aid his efforts. However, those efforts are probably futile.
The Lions should attempt to make him feel wanted and poach Thompson from a home he's only known for one year. If he were still on the Carolina Panthers — the franchise that drafted him in the first round — it'd be a different story. But he has already had the hardest professional split of his life when he left the Panthers last year.
Why not a change-in-scenery in as many years?
And why not with a franchise that badly needs what he brings to the table?
Thompson's 56 total tackles, 36 of them being solo tackles, six tackles for loss, and one sack in the 2025 regular season, not to mention his 13 tackles and interception in the postseason, prove he's not quite at his peak, but as good as he was at the beginning of his career. If Detroit can get that level of production out of a somewhat last-second free agent signing before the draft, Holmes can focus his efforts elsewhere in April.
Alex Anzalone Replacement Is Needed
Veteran LB Alex Anzalone's departure this offseason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — a two-year deal worth $17 million — put the heat on Detroit to get another man in the middle. Thompson is a thumper who could complement starting MIKE LB Jack Campbell well, filling on- and off-field roles.
Anzalone's absence will be felt in the locker room, after five years in the Motor City, as well as on the field. In 2025, Anzalone racked up 95 total tackles (52 solo), 2.5 sacks, and one interception, proving productive all over the gridiron, taking down running backs and tight ends en masse.
Perhaps more importantly than anything else, Thompson could provide perspective for a locker room whose biggest contributors were all born in the 2000s. While the Bills want to get younger, the Lions want to add another veteran. Thompson could want to return to a situation that is better suited to make a Super Bowl run next February, but Detroit isn't far off if it can make the right signings at positions of need.
Thompson could be just that. It's a long shot, since countless NFL contenders would line up for him. That's why the Lions can't wait a second longer to capitalize on the Bills' mistake, making signing Thompson a top priority as the calendar flips to April.