The Detroit Lions have been largely conservative in the opening week of free agency, but among the moves they made was retaining linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. Rodriguez returned to Detroit after signing a one-year deal with the team last week and has become a key reserve and special teamer over his first four years with the Lions.
But entering Year 5 in Detroit, Rodriguez made it clear he had another goal as he declared his intention to become a starter in 2026.
“It’s a big opportunity,” Rodriguez said via Lions team reporter Tim Twentyman at a press conference announcing his return on Monday. “...It’s just one of those things, I’m just going to come in and have the same mentality I had when I first got here. It’s always about competition and put my best foot forward and see where it goes.”
Malcolm Rodriguez Has Prime Opportunity to Start After Returning to Lions
Rodriguez has been a key figure in the Lions’ culture since arriving in 2022, going from the subject of a viral clip during the team’s appearance on Hard Knocks in his first training camp to a starter, making 87 total tackles and eight tackles for loss with a sack and two pass defenses in 16 games (15 starts) in his rookie season.
When the Lions drafted Jack Campbell in the first round of the 2023 draft, Rodriguez took a back seat but became a contributor by logging 76 total tackles, three tackles for loss with a pair of sacks, a pass defense, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 34 games. In between that period was a torn ACL that kept Rodriguez out for the first half of the 2025 campaign, but he has a good case to start now that Alex Anzalone has departed for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Anzalone was one of the defensive leaders on the team since arriving in 2021, but his chance to get paid and move back near his alma mater in Florida led him to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the end, that may have been the reason why Rodriguez turned down a similar opportunity with the Houston Texans, per KPRC’s Aaron Wilson, knowing his familiarity with Kelvin Sheppard’s scheme could give him an advantage in his ultimate goal.
“We started off with him in that room, and he’s seen it from Day 1,” Rodriguez said about Sheppard, who was the Lions’ linebackers’ coach when he entered the league. “It’s one of those things, where just to have that confidence in me as a player, I just want to play hard for him and my family and prove him right.”
While this could be a one-year audition to see if Rodriguez can become a starting-caliber linebacker and the Lions could add another linebacker to compete in free agency or the draft, his comments suggest he’ll get the opportunity and could turn it into a big payoff this offseason.