The Detroit Lions will have a big decision to make along their offensive line going into the 2025 offseason, as the future of starting guard Kevin Zeitler is in doubt.

Zeitler was signed as a free agent last offseason and had a strong first campaign in Detroit. However, he’s set to hit the open market in March, and he’ll be turning 35 years old the same month.

In a recent article predicting 11 Lions players who won’t be back in 2025, Detroit Jock City’s Devon Platana predicts Zeitler will be one-and-done in Detroit.

“The Lions will more than likely want to re-sign Zeitler, however, the final result will likely depend on what he’s looking for,” he wrote. Detroit doesn’t want to overpay for a mid-30s OL, especially when his play could fall off a cliff at any given point. With that said, he’ll likely be back in town if he’s willing to take a team-friendly deal.

“However, if Zeitler is looking for one last huge payday before retiring, the Lions might not be willing to open up their checkbook,” Platana added. “That’s just too risky of a move for a franchise looking to remain in Super Bowl contention for the foreseeable future.”

Zeitler isn’t the only guard the Lions need to make a decision on, as fellow starter Graham Glasgow is coming off a down year and can be cut with minimal pain. If Detroit decides to move on from Glasgow, Zeitler could be re-signed.

However, if the Lions are sticking with Glasgow for at least another season, they may already have a Zeitler replacement in-house in 2024 sixth-round pick and guard, Christian Mahogany.

Mahogany saw a pair of starts during the 2024 campaign and was impressive in both of them, and we believe that’ll be enough to give him a starting nod in 2025.

In his Week 16 start, Mahogany gave up one pressure but no sacks. He then started in place of Zeitler in the divisional round and held his own, surrendering one sack and three pressures.

Mahogany clearly got more comfortable as the game went on and finished with impressive Pro Football Focus grades of 92.2 overall, 91.9 in run-blocking and 72.6 in pass protection.

At this point, we would be surprised if Mahogany isn’t in a starting role in 2025, which would save the Lions a nice chunk of change in the process. Knowing that, it wouldn’t be at all shocking to see Zeitler playing elsewhere next season.