NFL teams raided the Detroit Lions’ coaching staff as soon as their 2024 playoff run ended. Could a raid on Detroit’s top pending free agents be next?

The Lions figure to have competition, especially with former coordinators Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears) and Aaron Glenn (New York Jets) landing head coaching jobs this hiring cycle. Glenn could be looking to poach breakout star Levi Onwuzurike, for example, as a key building block for his rebuilding roster in East Rutherford.

Mason Cameron of PFF recently named a wild-card team to land Onwuzurike, predicting either the Jets or Jacksonville Jaguars will sign the former No. 42 overall pick this March:

Onwuzurike is the penetrating 3-technique interior pass-rusher that every team covets. And given how ineffective the Jaguars’ interior pass rush was in 2024 — having ranked dead last in pass-rush win rate by defensive tackles (8.9%) — he will undoubtedly be a target for new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile’s defense. Pairing Onwuzurike’s 12%-plus pass rush win rate in each of the past two seasons with the already productive tandem of Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker would certainly turn heads in the AFC South.

Javon Kinlaw’s time in New York was short-lived (unrestricted free agent this offseason), and now the Jets must look elsewhere to find interior pressure. With Aaron Glenn heading up this defense into the future and the team having limited cap space, the Jets could be in the market for a more cost-controlled option in Onwuzurike, whom Glenn is very familiar with, having just coached him last season in Detroit.

While the Jets make obvious sense as a landing spot with Glenn at the helm, adding the Jaguars here is intriguing.

Onwuzurike would be leaving a Super Bowl contender in Detroit, and signing up for a questionable situation in Jacksonville bordering on a full rebuild. The Jaguars have a first-time head coach in Liam Coen and first-time coordinators in Grant Udinski on offense and Anthony Campanile on defense.

If the Jaguars are seriously going to poach Onwuzurike from Detroit, it’s going to take a sizable contract offer, likely in the neighborhood of three years, $42 million. The Lions just handed out a big extension to DT Alim McNeill, so a competitive offer like this could get it done.

Jacksonville’s a bit tight on 2025 cap space, and Coen is an offensive-minded coach. But if the Jags want to fix one of the NFL’s worst defenses in short order, this is the kind of signing they’ll be looking to make.