Detroit Lions Finally Get Good News About Team’s Future

The Detroit Lions have fielded plenty of negative news lately, mainly losing their offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to the New York Jets. But, all is not lost, and the franchise finally got some positive news amid all the bad stuff that happened after their loss to the Washington Commanders.

So, if you’re a Detroit Lions fan, don’t get too down quite yet. Even without Johnson and Glenn, the future could be bright.

Detroit Lions Get a Positive Following Glenn Exit

Because of the the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which dates back to November 2020, teams that lose minority assistants to head-coaching positions with other teams get two compensatory draft picks. The picks come at the end of the third round, following additional compensatory choices, and arrive in consecutive years.

For the Glenn move, the Lions will get added third-round picks in 2025-26, and the number will be announced sometime this spring. OverTheCap.com currently predicts the Minnesota Vikings, for Kirk Cousins, and Miami Dolphins, for Robert Hunt, will get third-round picks for losing free agents. Also, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will pick up compensatory picks for past minority hires.

Looking ahead to the 2025 NFL Draft, before Glenn left, the Lions had the 28th pick in the first round, 60th pick in the second round and single picks in Rounds 4 and 6 and two in Round 7. The Lions traded their third-round pick to the New York Jets to draft offensive tackle Gio Manu in the fourth round during the 2024 draft.

Glenn served as the Lions’ defensive coordinator for four season and was on head coach Dan Campbell’s original Detroit staff, so he’s been with Campbell from the very start.

‘I Wanted to Stay in the Division’

Switching gears to the coordinators that left the Lions, Johnson has already been welcomed into the fold by the Chicago Bears and has spoken with the media about his new role. When speaking about why he picked the Bears, Johnson said that he wanted to stay in the NFC North.

“I wanted to stay in this division. I know this is the toughest division in football right now,” Johnson said. “There’s three teams that made the playoffs this year. I’ve got tremendous amounts of respect for the coaches and players in this league having competed against them for the last six years. Dan Campbell, (Vikings head coach) Kevin O’Connell. Talk about two guys who are up for Coach of the Year awards as the season ends here.”

He added, “And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating (Packers coach) Matt LaFleur twice a year,” which was a little dig.

The Bears’ offense could use some help. They had the lowest number of yards (284.6) and was tied for the fourth-fewest points per game (18.2) in the NFL this season. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was the top overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. He completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also rushed for 489 yards, but he was sacked 68 times, the most in the NFL.