The 2024 Detroit Lions have their sights set on clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFC (a win over the 49ers and a Vikings loss against the Packers would secure the top seed this week) as well as a trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. But behind the scenes, the Lions are also keeping an eye on what their team will look like in 2025.
It won’t be long before free agency hits the NFL and the Lions have some decisions to make. They have some key contributors set to hit the free market in March. Case in point: Pro Football Focus recently released their top 50 free agents for the 2025 offseason. Three Lions players appear on the list.
The highest-ranked Lion on this list is cornerback Carlton Davis III, at No. 21. Detroit acquired Davis via trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last offseason. Davis is in the final year of the three-year, $44.5 million contract he signed with the Buccaneers in 2022.
Davis immediately upgraded the Lions’ secondary unit, a group that was the biggest Achilles heel in 2023. Davis has 56 tackles and two interceptions this season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded Davis in the offseason, and he has provided immediate stability to a young, oft-injured Detroit secondary that has seen a strong defensive turnaround even after the loss of Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Aidan Hutchinson.
Next on the list, at No. 27, is guard Kevin Zeitler. The Lions signed Zeitler to a one-year deal in free agency after he spent three seasons in Baltimore. Zeitler has been one of the best guards across the entire NFL this season and turned out to be a major free-agency win for the Lions. Zeitler does turn 35 in March, so it will be interesting to see if the Lions decide to bring him back for 2025.
After spending the past three years in Baltimore, Zeitler joined Detroit, which has been a near-seamless fit. Zeitler’s 80.2 PFF overall grade is his best since 2016, and his 78.6 PFF run-blocking grade is his highest in 10 years. The 34-year-old could be a cheap yet effective guard option on the open market.
Finally, at No. 40, is defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike. Onwuzurike has been steady up front for the Lions, playing in 14 games, recording 24 tackles, one tackle for a loss and 1.5 sacks this season. In three seasons played (a back injury caused him to miss the entire 2022 season), Onwuzurike has played in 40 games, with eight starts, recorded 64 tackles, four tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks.
Onwuzurike has flashed whenever he’s been healthy over his first four seasons in the league after getting drafted one round ahead of recently extended interior defender Alim McNeill in 2021. The former second-round pick out of Washington is the penetrating three-technique interior pass-rusher that every team covets, with his 11.2% pass-rush win rate in 2024 ranking as a top-25 mark at the position.