The Detroit Lions’ season came to an end with Sunday's victory over the Chicago Bears, turning their attention to an important offseason. A 9-8 record came up woefully short of the Super Bowl aspirations many had to begin the season, and it could lead to the Lions making some difficult decisions in the coming months.
One of those decisions won’t be in the hands of the Lions' brain trust, as left tackle Taylor Decker is considering retirement. Speaking to reporters, including The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy, after Week 18, Decker revealed that his 2025 season was filled with steroids, PRP, and gel injections, and several kinds of therapy as he worked his way through a shoulder injury.
After Pouncy speculated that Decker’s comments could be the prelude to hanging up the cleats this season, it leaves the Lions with a massive hole at left tackle and a need for clarity surrounding backup tackle Giovanni Manu.
Taylor Decker’s Retirement Could Put Spotlight on Giovanni Manu This Offseason
It feels like the Lions have been ducking a decision on Manu throughout his first two seasons. A 2024 fourth-round pick out of the University of British Columbia, Manu spent his entire rookie season as a redshirt player and finally managed to appear in four games this season. The experiment did not go well, however, as he allowed two sacks on 28 pass-blocking snaps in place of Decker during a Week 5 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, and a knee injury suffered during that game kept him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
While his performance on the field has been rough, Decker endorsed Manu at times as he came to work out with him in Arizona last offseason.
“They’re the future,” Decker said of Manu and the other young linemen on the team via Pouncy during training camp. “I’m not going to be able to play forever. He knows that he’s talented. We know that he’s talented, and I think he wants to prove people right because he knows he has the ability. I think he takes that to heart.”
Although the Lions are high on Manu’s talent, there’s not a lot of time for players to prove it in the NFL. Campbell admitted that Manu had an up-and-down training camp, and as he was attempting to return from his injury late in the year, Campbell stressed the importance of getting reps to continue his development.
“I think for Gio, he needs reps,” Campbell said via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press last month. “Practice reps, get out there against our defense… in real-time practice. It’s not a ton of them, and it’s not like training camp, but God, he just needs reps, man. He cannot get enough reps, and if we’re able to use him or there’s something there this year, that’s a bonus... Will this set him up better for next year? Training camp going into that next year? That’s really it.”
Those reps never happened, and now the Lions have an important decision to make. The Lions saw how a retirement can affect their offensive line as they struggled to replace Frank Ragnow after he walked away during the team’s June minicamp. If Decker retires, they’ll have plenty of notice ahead of time, but not a lot of data on Manu.
Inserting Manu into the starting lineup would be a bold move considering his lack of experience. Finding a left tackle in the draft or free agency would also be difficult, as evidenced by Tate Ratledge’s struggles during his rookie season.
Either way, decision day is coming for Manu and Decker’s retirement decision could make the clock strike midnight.