The Detroit Lions’ 2025 season came to an end with a 19-16 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday but Monday brought one of the most bittersweet days on the football calendar as players cleaned out their lockers.
There’s always a sense of anxiety on locker cleanout day. with players not knowing what the future will hold in 2026. While some such as Taylor Decker even hinted about retirement in the closing hours of the season, others including Graham Glasgow wondered if they’ll have a job in 2026, simply telling Colton Pouncy of The Athletic “We’ll see,” when asked if he intends to play next season “whether it be in Detroit or somewhere else.”
Glasgow’s comments come after a turbulent season where he shifted to center in the wake of Frank Ragnow’s retirement last June. If the Lions decide to move on from Glasgow ahead of the final year of his contract, it should put Tate Ratledge in the spotlight as a player that could decide what the Lions’ offensive line will look like next season.
Tate Ratledge’s Move to Center Could Depend on Graham Glasgow’s Future
A second-round pick out of Georgia, Ratledge was drafted as a guard but the Lions teased his ability to play center throughout his rookie season. Ratledge began training at the position during the team’s rookie minicamp and GM Brad Holmes doubled down on the possibility, saying during training camp that Ratledge could be the long-term answer at center and that his ceiling could be higher there than it was at guard via Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network.
Despite the hype, Ratledge spent the 2025 campaign exclusively at guard. While there were positives such as a 70.3 overall grade and a 73.5 run-blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus, there were some negatives such as his 24 pressures and two sacks allowed on 648 pass-blocking snaps.
It’s also concerning that Ratledge never stepped in for Glasgow even as he battled a knee injury and posted a 56.8 overall grade and allowed 19 pressures and a sack on 517 pass-blocking snaps. Perhaps this was an effort to make sure the best five players were on the field at the same time, but Glasgow has shown he’s more serviceable as a guard throughout his career.
Glasgow’s performance and the $5.5 million the Lions can save against the salary cap are key reasons why he could be playing somewhere else next season. If that happens, it could shift the attention to what the Lions do with Ratledge for 2026.
If the Lions move Ratledge to center, it creates a hole at right guard. While Miles Frazier could step in before his second season, he struggled after returning from a knee injury, posting a 26.4 overall grade on 46 total snaps at right guard. The rest of the depth chart is even murkier with Kayode Awosika struggling in spot duty and Michael Niese more of a reserve option and the Lions could have even more questions if Decker retires and puts Giovanni Manu in a starting role.
Long story short, right tackle Penei Sewell might be the only player guaranteed for a starting job in 2026 right now and Ratledge will have to show that his positives outweigh the negatives from his rookie year. The only question yet is where he’ll have the chance to prove it and it could be one of Detroit’s more intriguing decisions heading into next season.