3 Lions Players With the Most to Lose During the 2025 NFL Draft

The Detroit Lions have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.

Next week they'll look to make it even stronger with a new class of rookies, somewhere general manager Brad Holmes has excelled since joining the Lions.

While those rookie will provide new opportunities for the Lions organization, they will also create new challenges for certain members of their roster.

Here are the three Lions who have the most to lose as a result of the decisions the franchise makes during the 2025 NFL Draft.

Marcus Davenport

This one is pretty straightforward. With just over a week until the draft, Marcus Davenport is currently the projected starter in the Lions' second defensive end slot.

That's not a reality Lions fans want to still be dealing with at the start of the regular season.

The Lions are expected to select at least one edge in this draft to take his place and that pick is seen as likely to come in the first round.

One thing Davenport has working for him right now is that there aren't many edge rushers in this class who produced in college, so any rookie may take some time before they take his job.

Still, any pick made to add an edge will signal an impending move to the bench for Davenport.

That move to the bench can't come soon enough if they hope to repeat last season's regular season success.

Graham Glasgow

This one was the toughest decision on the list as it was difficult to choose between Graham Glasgow and Christian Mahogany.

A guard being selected in this draft definitely impacts both.

However, a pick at the position is a larger problem for Glasgow.

For now, Glasgow is expected to be locked in to one of the two starting guard spots for the Lions. That isn't expected to change between now and the start of the 2025 season.

The problem for him is what a guard being selected in this draft would mean for next season.

Glasgow will carry an $8.44 million cap hit for 2026. The Lions can save more than $5.5 million of that by cutting him next offseason.

That will be an appealing option as the Lions make big decisions about extensions around their roster.

He already began to show signs of decline this past season at 32 years old. That could have the Lions looking at future options to replace him.

If the Lions select a guard in the first couple days of this year's draft, they'll compete for the second starting spot in 2025, but that player and either Mahogany or Giovanni Manu will likely take the two spots in 2026, leaving Glasgow to look for a new team.

Jameson Williams

This isn't about Jameson Williams losing his spot on the depth chart. It's also not about him potentially getting traded because that would be a bad move for the Lions.

What this is about is money.

Whether or not the Lions draft a wide receiver this year could have a big impact on Williams' next contract.

Williams is three years into his NFL career. Only one of them was good. Now he likely has two more years to earn himself a big second contract.

I think he's going to see some regression in 2025 regardless of any additions the Lions make.

There are a lot of mouths to feed in their passing attack and the fact that Austin Seferian-Jenkins got 5.7 targets per game the last time John Morton was an offensive coordinator likely means Sam LaPorta is going to see more targets next season.

The last thing Williams' stats can afford is more competition for targets.

If the Lions use a day two pick on a receiver, that's exactly what he'll have to deal with.

Williams had to be one of the most efficient receivers in the league in 2024 to reach 1000 yards. His 11 yards per target were sixth best in the NFL.

He's going to need a couple more 1000-yard seasons if he's going to get a contract that puts him on the upper end at the position.

If the Lions get a WR3 who commands a larger target share, that will make it even tougher for Williams to reach that mark. 

More than any other Lion, Williams will be hoping not to see a pick made at his position during the first two days of the draft and the recent visit from Matthew Golden seems to indicate the Lions are taking a good look at the position.