The Detroit Lions are in an interesting place with their interior offensive line right now. They could potentially lose Kevin Zeitler to free agency if they’re not able to bring him back and then there’s a possibility that Graham Glasgow could be a cap casualty.
The Lions do have Christian Mahogany and from what we saw from him in his rookie year, he could be ready to start in 2025.
The most likely route here is that the Lions do bring back Zietler and Mahogany could find a spot to start, but if Detroit does move on from Glasgow and they feel like they want to give Mahogany just a little bit more time to cook, bringing back Jonah Jackson should be the way to go for this team.
The Lions took Jackson in the third-round of the 2020 NFL Draft and he did put up a Pro Bowl season for them in 2021. Injuries got the best of him in 2023 and the Lions looked to upgrade with Zeitler. Jackson signed with the Rams, but it did not work out over there. He wound up playing just four games.
Now according to NFL Network’s Matt Okada, Jackson could be a cut candidate for the Rams ahead of free agency. Here’s his reasoning:
“The Rams’ cap situation depends quite a bit on what happens with Matthew Stafford, whose cap figure sits at $49.7 million for 2025, but whether the QB moves on or agrees to a restructured deal, the team is not in especially dire straits financially. If L.A. does make significant cuts, Jonah Jackson would likely be in consideration. The former Pro Bowl guard signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the team last March and was the starting center for Week 1, but he fractured his scapula in Week 2, had a poor showing in his Week 10 return and was inactive for the rest of the relevant games of the season. As a standard release, Jackson would eat up $11.3 million in dead money, saving just $3.3 million in 2025, but if he’s designated as a post-June 1 cut, the team would net $9 million in savings.”
That is a lot of money for the Rams to save. If they go this route, the Lions could bring in Jackson at quite a discount and give him a chance to prove that he can get over the injuries. Even if he doesn’t start in Detroit, it’s worth it to have offensive line depth in Detroit.
