The Detroit Lions have seen turnover along the offensive line, and it all started when Taylor Decker requested his release after being asked to take a pay cut. The Lions also parted ways with Graham Glasgow, but Detroit's biggest hole along the trenches is at tackle.
The Lions added Larry Borom at the beginning of free agency, and it looks like his addition could have a role in Penei Sewell changing positions for the 2026 season. General manager Brad Holmes was a guest on the "Lions Collective" podcast on March 24, and he flirted with the idea of moving Sewell over to left tackle.
Lions Open to Moving Penei Sewell Over to LT
Holmes gave Sewell a lot of praise in the interview and expressed that the team would have confidence in the lineman's ability to play left tackle if it came to that.
"I think that's the beauty of having a player like him, you always have that flexibility of the possibility of him playing left tackle. He's done it before. It's not anything foreign to him. So even as we're going through free agency, we weren't really pigeonholed like, 'We've got to get a left tackle. We've got to get a right tackle.' We were just like, 'What's the best tackle for us?' And then we'll kind of adjust as needed. So that's kind of the beauty of it."Brad Holmes
Although Sewell has been an All-Pro for the last three seasons at right tackle, the Lions aren't afraid to move him over to the other side. And, as a reason for this being a discussion, Holmes praised Borom for his play at right tackle last season with the Dolphins.
"Seeing what (Borom) did at Miami, especially at right tackle, and then you start looking at the film, and it's like, 'Man, this is probably about the most consistent ball that I've seen him play.' Then, you start taking a deeper dive of him at right tackle, even in the past, and you start seeing this level of consistency versus the guard spots or the left tackle spots," Holmes said.
Last season, Borom played 664 total snaps at right tackle in Miami. And his grades on Pro Football Focus were solid. He had a 60.7 overall grade, 67.1 pass-blocking grade, and a 54.4 run-blocking grade. While he has room for growth, the Lions clearly like what they saw on tape enough to consider moving Sewell from his All-Pro position.
And like Holmes called out, it wouldn't be the first time that Sewell played left tackle for the Lions. During the 2021 season, Sewell started eight games at left tackle, playing in 536 snaps. He was then asked to play left tackle again in 2023, logging 142 total snaps, starting in another two games.
Whether Detroit actually decides to move its best offensive lineman remains to be seen, but Sewell is one of the best players at his position on the right side. And his advanced stats from PFF only amplify how dominant he's been.
Season | Overall Grade | Pass-Blocking Grade | Run-Blocking Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 91.0 (1st among 84 graded tackles) | 78.1 (17th among 84 graded tackles) | 93.1 (1st among 84 graded tackles) |
2024 | 87.5 (4th among 81 graded tackles) | 74.1 (33rd among 81 graded tackles) | 90.5 (2nd among 81 graded tackles) |
2025 | 95.2 (1st among 89 graded tackles) | 80.3 (11th among 89 graded tackles) | 96.8 (1st among 89 graded tackles) |
Making this move comes with risk; there is no doubt about that, but Holmes isn't hiding that the addition of Borom is changing what the Lions are considering doing along their offensive line.