The Detroit Lions’ linebacker unit will look vastly different heading into next season. The Lions don’t have Alex Anzalone anymore, who spent the last five seasons in the Motor City. Anzalone signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Without Anzalone, it leaves an immediate void in the starting lineup that the Lions must fill either in free agency or through the NFL draft. On Tuesday, the Lions took the first step in figuring out what to do with Anzalone’s spot by bringing fan favorite Malcolm Rodriguez.
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Detroit re-signed Rodriguez to a one-year deal. It was expected to see the Lions bring back some of their key contributors/backups on the defensive side. However, Detroit needed to bring back Rodriguez, as its linebacker depth leaves much to be desired.
But the Lions shouldn’t stop in their pursuit to address the position, as they likely don’t want to begin next season with Rodriguez starting beside Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes.
Lions' LB Plans a Lot More Interesting with Malcolm Rodriguez Back
The last time Rodriguez was a full-time starter was in 2022 as a rookie. During that season, he had 87 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, two pass deflections, a forced fumble, and a sack across 15 starts.
According to Pro Football Focus, Rodriguez had a 66.4 run defense grade, a 65.0 tackling grade, but a 55.1 coverage grade. That low coverage grade reflected his struggles as Rodriguez had an 82.9% when targeted, while allowing 340 yards, a touchdown, and a 109.3 passer rating.
Since his rookie season, Rodriguez has seen his role evolve as he’s more of a LB3 and special teams contributor. In fact, over the last three seasons, he’s only started in 10 games. And when looking at the veteran’s numbers from this past season, Rodriguez received 72 defensive snaps compared to 160 on special teams.
Something to keep in mind is that Rodriguez didn’t make his 2025 debut until Week 12 after he suffered a torn ACL during the 2024 season. That said, the Lions need to have someone else ahead of him on the depth chart for this unit not to take a step back.
Luckily for Detroit, several free agents are still available to be signed, such as Leo Chenal, Dre Greenlaw, Matt Milano, Devin White, and Shaq Thompson. Any of those vets would be solid at their various price points and could be trusted to start.
As for the draft, this is a good year to need a linebacker. The last time Detroit took a linebacker in the NFL draft was Jack Campbell in the first round in 2023. The Lions are projected to have nine picks in next month’s draft, giving them several chances to add young talent to the LB room.
Detroit will have an interesting decision to make in the coming weeks about the open starting LB spot. It won’t be easy to replace Anzalone, it might take one or two players to fill that void, and we will see if Rodriguez is part of that mix.