Monday Morning Rundown: 02/23/26

After two weeks of using News and Nuggets, we have decided to rebrand our weekly item to be called the "Monday Morning Rundown". Going forward, expect this to be posted each Monday and contain the news and notes form the prior week that impact the Lions, the NFL or whatever else catches my eye.

Detroit Lions President Rod Wood interviewed by Lions team reporter Dannie Rogers

Lions Players, Coaches and Team

• Rod Wood is retiring as Lions Team President prior to the start of the 2026 season

• Lions Team Reporter Dannie Rogers is moving on from the role after five years

• The Lions posted a video get to know new OC Drew Petzing

• The Detroit Lions Official X account is continuing to post highlights from last season. The latest posts include Jahmyr Gibbs, Aiden Hutchinson, Amon-ra St Brown and Jared Goff,

• The Lions Posted an almost 40-minute video of ALL the Lions TDs in 2025

• Kerby Joseph is doing everything possible to get his knee back to full strength, including alternate medicine

• NFL.com Editor Gennaro Filice ranked the 2025 Draft Classes, handing the Lions a 'B' and 16th on the list.

• 97.1 (WXYT-The Ticket) announced a new multi-year broadcast partnership with the Lions for the team's radio home, continuing to broadcast pre-, regular and post season games.

• Happy Birthday (last Friday) to Isaac TeSlaa!

• Former Detroit Lions OC Jon Morton is going back to the Broncos to his old role

Rumors, Nuggets and Speculation

• NFL Network is kicking off over 40 hours of its Combine Coverage TODAY

• Fox Sports Top 100 Free Agents with Potential Fits. Three Lions on the list, all projected to sign elsewhere with Lions projected to land a Guard and CB.

• Many teams are lighting their cap dollars on fire due to poor contracts or taking big swings at a Super Bowl.

• ESPN Top 50 Free Agents has two Lions connections, Anzalone to Bucs and Bosa to Lions.

• Former Browns OG Joel Bitonio, speculated to the Lions in Free Agency, has retired, or not

• The Franchise/Transition tag opened Feb 17th and runs through Mar 3rd. Lions likely won't tag anyone this year

• Fox Sports lists Taylor Decker at No 19 on their Top 25 potential Cap Cuts

• The 2026 draft is not strong for OG, with only six players clearing the NFL Avg benchmark

• PFF has the Lions as their Top Team to go from Last to first in 2026

• Don't expect a lot of rule change proposals this offseason, including against the Tush Push

Mock Draft Season

• The NFL Mock Draft Database site is a fantastic tool to see consensus rankings based on aggregated Mock Drafts of individual players.

• PFF's Three-round Mock Draft 1st Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk; 2nd: Indiana CB D'Angelo Ponds

• CBS Sports Josh Edwards Mock Draft - Clemson CB Aveion Terrell

• Move the Sticks 2nd Mock Draft form Daniel Jeremiah - Clemson EDGE T.J. Parker

• The Athletic NFL Beat Writers Mock Draft 2.0 ($$$) - Georgia OT Monroe Freeling

• NFL.com's Charles Davis Mock 1.0 - Miami EDGE Akheem Mesidore

NFC North News

• The Bears added four new coaches to fill out Ben Johnson's second Offensive Staff

• Packers have lost NINE coaches now that ST Coordinator Rich Bisaccia has stepped down

Things I think are Noteworthy

• Something different from the "Florida Man" files....

• Tigers' Alt unis are fire

• The Bears stadium ordeal is a tug of war between Wolf Lake site in Indiana and Arlington Heights in Chicago with Indiana pulling out all the stops

• Stever Perry will NOT be rejoining Journey