The Detroit Lions are facing questions about their depth along the defensive line heading into the 2025 season. Multiple key players are returning after significant injuries, while the team will also have to make decisions on pending free agents.
Because of this uncertainty, the Lions could elect to add depth to the position group in free agency. One veteran option is Sheldon Rankins, who will be entering his 10th NFL season in 2025. Originally a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2016, Rankins has played nine seasons for four different teams.
Whether or not the Lions pursue defensive line help likely will depend on whether or not they bring back players like Levi Onwuzurike, Kyle Peko and John Cominsky. Onwuzurike is projected to potentially earn double-digit millions in free agency, so he could be a candidate to depart.
In Peko and Cominsky, the Lions have two veterans that they could likely re-sign. Both players are coming off of injuries that cost them significant parts of the 2024 season.
Rankins hits free agency after being released by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played in seven games in the first season of a two-year deal signed last offseason, missing three games with a hamstring injury and the final seven games with what was labeled a viral illness by head coach Zac Taylor.
The Louisville product was plenty productive in 2023, notching 37 tackles and six sacks in 15 games with the Houston Texans. In 2024 with the Bengals, he had just one sack and 10 total tackles in seven games.
Set to be 31 years old at the start of the regular season, Rankins may not have the same explosiveness off the ball that made him effective working on the defensive line. He still has some pass rush juice, but the overall lack of production is fairly concerning.
Rankins initially signed with the Bengals last season as a replacement for DJ Reader, who coincidentally signed a two-year deal with the Lions.
The veteran could bump over to a three-technique role, which could benefit Detroit with Alim McNeill's status for the start of the season up in the air due to a torn ACL suffered late in the 2024 campaign.
Detroit also has Mekhi Wingo returning for his second season, though he is also completing recover for a knee injury suffered in the second half of last year.
As a result, the Lions could take a chance on Rankins with a one-year deal with a low base salary and featuring incentives to boost the overall compensation amount.
