Recapping 10 key Lions who entered 2024 with medical concerns

With the Super Bowl and NFL season now over, the next big phase for the Lions is free agency. The legal tampering period of 2025 free agency starts on March 10. (The illegal tampering period has started already.) The Lions will need to make some tough decisions with many of their free agents and their health status will be a critical component.

Here is the list of the 2024 Lions unrestricted free agents who did not finish the season due to injury:

Carlton Davis – Jaw fracture, December 15

Kevin Zeitler – Right hamstring, January 5

Marcus Davenport – Left elbow, September 22

Derrick Barnes – Right MCL/PCL with surgery, September 22

John Cominsky – MCL with surgery, July 30

Ifeatu Melifonwu – Right hamstring strain, January 18

Kyle Peko – Left pec rupture, October 13

Pat O’Connor – Calf, January 5

Khalil Dorsey – Right tib/fib fracture, December 15

Emmanuel Moseley – Illness, January

A recent article by Jeff Risdon projects many of these injured players to re-sign with the Lions.

Injuries of any kind can carry residual effects. For many injuries, there is no such thing as being “fully recovered”. Thus, the nature of the injury is a major factor in the dollars and years a team will offer or if there is an offer at all. One injury may beget other injuries which is something to consider as well.

Studying history may provide lessons that affect the team’s approach to the 2025 injured free agents. Those who deny history are doomed to repeat it, but denial is human nature.

 “Denial is the most predictable of all human responses” – The Architect in The Matrix Reloaded

Entering the 2024 season, I compiled a list of 10 key Lions who were dealing with offseason medical issues. Here is the link to that article. Let’s look back and see how these players fared and if any lessons can be gleaned entering the 2025 free agency period.

(Credit pro-football-reference.com, footballguys.com, fantasypros.com for snap count data.)