Updated March 10, 2026, 3:39 p.m. ET
The man they name “Rodrigo” is on his manner again to the Detroit Lions.
Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez on Tuesday reached a one-year pact to keep in Detroit, a league supply advised The Detroit News, changing into the primary defender and in-house free agent to re-sign with the Lions on this free-agency interval. The monetary worth of the contract will not be instantly recognized.
Rodriguez, 26, is a former sixth-round choose who began in 15 video games throughout his rookie season, proper after he turned a star on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” however has since seen his function lowered via the emergence of Derrick Barnes and the drafting of Jack Campbell.
Still, he is been an important special-teams participant and a reliable reserve. He made six begins throughout a hellacious 2024 season during which half the beginning protection hung out on injured reserve earlier than ultimately experiencing a season-ending harm of his personal, a torn ACL. That restoration lingered into subsequent season, when he returned to make seven appearances with one begin, compiling 12 tackles.
Is Rodriguez the substitute for Alex Anzalone?
The Lions lastly added — or on this case, retained — a defensive participant in free company after dropping a number of key items, together with linebacker and defensive captain Alex Anzalone, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a two-year deal.
While some critics famous a drop in play over Anzalone’s final season in Detroit, backfilling his function, and significantly, his move protection, is not any straightforward activity — and one which Rodriguez may not be outfitted to fill. They’re not solely two completely different gamers by way of caliber and previous manufacturing, but additionally stylistically. Anzalone’s energy (his protection skill) might be Rodriguez’s greatest weak spot.
It’s totally potential that Rodriguez provides a few of these abilities coming into subsequent season, however from a projection standpoint, it’s arduous to imagine that the Lions assume Rodriguez is prepared to fill the particular function that Anzalone dealt with so nicely, even in a season the place he may’ve misplaced a step.
Related: Alex Anzalone pens farewell letter to Detroit: ‘Gave everything I had’
Will the Lions add extra linebackers?
Following the transfer, Detroit now has three linebackers on the roster: Rodriguez, Campbell and Barnes. That is likely to be sufficient to area a beginning unit, however the Lions have a good distance to go earlier than that place is absolutely settled.
So, briefly: sure, they are going to add extra linebackers. But will they add one other starting-caliber linebacker? That is the query. Rodriguez hasn’t proven sufficient to solidify himself as a starter, and Barnes struggled with consistency within the first yr of his three-year, $25.5 million deal. Though Campbell emerged as a First-Team All-Pro final season, the Lions’ protection nonetheless struggled as a complete, and downgrading one among your greatest items — at a place defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard performed and coached — looks like a improvement the Lions ought to attempt to keep away from.
We’d anticipate the Lions to preserve looking for a top quality starter in free company. But with two starters in place and a stable depth piece signed, maybe the Lions really feel snug sufficient to wait till the draft for additional reinforcements.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
