Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell Reveals $97 Million Defensive Starter Likely Unavailable for 2025 Season Opener
The team faced a string of season-ending injuries among defensive starters, culminating in the playoff game against the Commanders when Amik Robertson broke his arm.
It now appears that the injury woes from the 2024 season could carry over into the 2025 campaign.
Speaking at this year’s owners meetings, Lions head coach Dan Campbell revealed (via Fox2 Detroit’s Dan Miller) that defensive tackle Alim McNeill is unlikely to be ready for the start of next season.
McNeill missing the 2025 season opener isn’t entirely unexpected. He tore his ACL late in the 2024 season, which ended his year.
With the injury occurring in Week 15, McNeill would be just under nine months removed from it by the start of the 2025 season.
That injury cut short another strong campaign for McNeill.
Despite missing the Lions’ final three games, McNeill ranked 15th among defensive tackles with 45 total pressures and sixth in hurries with 38, per Pro Football Focus.
His pass rush efforts helped mitigate the absence of Aidan Hutchinson, and McNeill ended up third on the team with 3.5 sacks.
He also registered 17 stops in the run game.
This offseason, the Lions bolstered their defensive tackle depth by re-signing Levi Onwuzurike and adding Roy Lopez.
The trio of Onwuzurike, Lopez, and D.J. Reader will need to step up until McNeill is able to return.
Whenever McNeill does return, the Lions will be eager to have their $97 million defensive tackle causing havoc in the middle of the field again.