At the conclusion of every Detroit Lions season, all of my friends and family members ask what I’m going to do with myself until next season. Fortunately, it’s not a hard question to answer.

The NFL consistently inserts itself in the news cycle with major offseason events, providing plenty of reasons to stay engaged until training camp begins in late July. That brings us to Part III of our offseason blueprint, a step-by-step guide to the Detroit Lions’ 2025 offseason.

Through the first two days, we’ve covered franchise tags and tenders, the NFL combine, in-house free agents, external free agents, the trade market, and potential cap casualties. To wrap up the series, we’re covering the draft, fifth-year options, contract extensions, the schedule release, and the offseason workout schedule.

League meetings are where the media will get to speak with general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell for the first time since free agency, offering an opportunity to hear a little bit more about the acquisitions Detroit has made to that point. There will also be a coaches’ breakfast, which offers the opportunity to ask other coaches around the league about players and staff the Lions have added to their building. The team also typically makes team president Rod Wood available to the media at the owners meetings, providing the chance to ask about some bigger-picture topics facing the franchise.

Owners meetings are where many rule changes for the upcoming season are put into motion. At last year’s owners meetings, the league made a big change to the kickoff, banned hip-drop tackles and altered the trade deadline.

Lastly, this is when chatter and rumors about the draft really start picking up steam. Teams have gone through the combine and probably have a pretty good idea of what their board looks like, opening the floodgates to the fog of war. Just like at the combine, executives are looking to use the information exchange to set up smokescreens and best position themselves for a successful draft.

NFL Draft (April 24-26)

The Lions have accumulated so much talent in the draft that it’s now more important than ever. While they’ve yet to let a successful pick enter free agency, it won’t be long before Detroit has no choice but to let quality players walk in order to continue handing out raises elsewhere.

The way to make those decisions a little easier is by continuing to draft well while still in the Super Bowl window. Teams that perenially contend — Baltimore, Philadelphia and Kansas City all come to mind — do so by consistently getting the most out of their cost-controlled players.

We’ll have wall-to-wall draft coverage from now until the end of April, including position-by-position previews, mock drafts and deep dives on individual prospects. For now, the idea is to give you a brief preview of what the Lions have to work with, what they might be looking for, and the strengths and weaknesses of the class.

Lions’ picks: Round 1 (No. 28), Round 2 (No. 60), Round 3 (compensatory pick, TBD), Round 4 (TBD), Round 6 (via Tampa Bay, TBD), Round 7 (via Dallas, TBD), Round 7 (TBD)

Lions’ needs: The Lions will certainly be looking for help on the defensive line, both at edge rusher and defensive tackle. It’s also not too early to start finding help at linebacker; Malcolm Rodriguez, Alex Anzalone and Jalen Reeves-Maybin are all entering the final year of their contracts and Derrick Barnes needs a new deal this offseason. If cornerback Carlton Davis III doesn’t re-sign in Detroit, it would behoove the Lions to continue stacking at that position as well. Even if Graham Glasgow and Kevin Zeitler are both back next season, I think the Lions still have a need at offensive guard. It wouldn’t hurt to start future-proofing at tight end, wide receiver or safety, either. Ultimately, I expect Holmes to maintain his “best player available” approach, which basically puts everything on the table.

Class strengths: It’s a good year to need front-seven help in the draft. The strength of this year’s class is on the defensive line, with an abundance of quality prospects at edge rusher and defensive tackle expected to be available through the end of the third round. It’s also a bit of a deep tight-end class, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Holmes add to that position behind Sam LaPorta. This is also a fantastic class of running back, but with Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and Sione Vaki all in Detroit for the long haul, it’s probably the one position the Lions truly do not really have room for.

Class weaknesses: Aside from running back, this year’s offensive draft class is lackluster, especially at quarterback, wide receiver and offensive tackle. This could benefit the Lions if they want to trade up since the lack of opportunity cost for teams trading back is generally smaller than in most years.

Fifth-year options (Deadline: May 1)

The Lions have two first-round picks from the 2022 draft class who will be eligible to have their fifth-year options (for the 2026 season) picked up by the May 1 deadline: Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and wide receiver Jameson Williams.

For the uninitiated, all first-round draft picks are signed to four-year deals (salary is predetermined by draft slot) with a fifth-year club option on the back end. The salary for a fifth-year option is also predetermined, based on a combination of draft slot and the accomplishments of the player through their first three seasons.

There are four different tiers of fifth-year options: Basic, playtime, one Pro Bowl, and more than one Pro Bowl. The last two are self-explanatory; “playtime” is based on a player meeting certain criteria over three seasons; basic are for players who fail to meet the playtime requirement and did not make a Pro Bowl.

Therefore, Hutchinson is eligible for the “one Pro Bowl” tier, which is projected to pay him $22.6 million in 2026. Had he been able to finish out the season and made another Pro Bowl, he would have been in line for a 2026 salary of around $27 million. Regardless of how much money it’ll cost Detroit, picking up Hutchinson’s fifth-year option is a no-brainer.

Williams, meanwhile, has had a much different trajectory to begin his NFL career. While he had some off-the-field struggles in the last two seasons, his on-field resume was strong in 2024. He turned in his first 1,000-yard season despite missing two games, and he caught 58 passes with eight total touchdowns. He qualifies for the “basic” tier, which will earn him $15.2 million in 2026 if the Lions pick up his contract. Despite the aforementioned struggles, he is a tremendous asset for the Lions’ offense. It would be very surprising to see the Lions decline his fifth-year option.

Contract extensions

One thing Holmes has done a great job of is getting ahead of contract extensions. Generally speaking, waiting only creates unnecessary drama and drives the price up as other players continue resetting the market; the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals were all engulfed in contract drama entering last year’s training camp and missed the playoffs despite having contending rosters (to be fair, some of them had injury struggles, but so did 15-2 Detroit).

The Lions gave extensions to quarterback Jared Goff, offensive tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown last offseason. They also extended offensive tackle Taylor Decker during training camp and extended running back David Montgomery and defensive tackle Alim McNeill in-season.

The 2022 draft class is next, with Hutchinson, Williams, and All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph headlining the group of players who will become eligible for their second contracts this offseason. These players can sign extensions at any point after the new league year starts at 4 p.m. on March 12.

Given Hutchinson’s trajectory and the intangibles he’s displayed thus far, the Lions would probably sign him to a lifetime contract tomorrow if they could. But Hutchinson’s next contract has a variable that Sewell’s and St. Brown’s did not: Hutchinson was on track to be the NFL’s best defensive player in 2024 before breaking his tibia and fibula in Week 6.

The injury already cost Hutchinson money on his fifth-year option, and it’s not clear whether he’ll be as motivated to get a deal done quickly. It’s possible he decides to play into the 2025 season — or even waits until the following offseason — before signing on the dotted line, but we’ll see. San Francisco’s Nick Bosa currently owns the highest annual salary for an edge rusher ($34 million); you can probably be expected to see Hutchinson receive a deal in this range — and probably slightly above it.

I’m not so sure Williams will get a new deal this offseason, either. From the team’s perspective, there are maturity issues to consider. It’s not as safe of an investment as, say, St. Brown or Sewell. From Williams’ standpoint, he still has two years left on his rookie deal (assuming the fifth-year option is picked up) and just had his breakout season, so signing to a long-term deal doesn’t make too much sense.

Of the three players from the 2022 class mentioned above, I’m most confident that Joseph will sign an extension this offseason. As a former third-round pick, he’s entering the last year of his deal, so that alone makes it more urgent than the others. But with a league-leading 17 interceptions since entering the league in 2022, he also provides a unique skill set at the highest of levels.

Still, fellow safety Brian Branch will also be up for a new deal next offseason, and it’s possible the Lions are uncomfortable dedicating upward of $40 million to the position, ultimately deciding to pick one over the other. The five highest-paid safeties range from $16.8 million annually (Xavier McKinney, Green Bay Packers) to $21 million (Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

The other two members of Detroit’s 2022 draft class who are eligible for extension are Rodriguez and defensive end Josh Paschal. Neither player is a bonafide starter and probably isn’t an early extension candidate.

NFL schedule announced (Projected date: May 15)

With the Eagles’ Super Bowl win on Sunday night, Philadelphia will play host to open the season on Thursday Night Football in Week 1. The Lions are currently a front-runner to be the Eagles’ opponent.

Last year’s Thursday opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens was announced on May 13, three days before the rest of the schedule came out on Thursday, May 16. Assuming they keep the same structure for this year’s announcement, you can probably expect to know whether the Lions will play on opening night by May 12 and get the rest of the schedule by May 15.

The Lions beat Kansas City in the 2023 opener, 21-20, setting the tone for a magical season culminating in a NFC Championship run.

Lions 2025 home opponents: Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota, Dallas, New York Giants, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh

Lions 2025 road opponents: Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota, Washington, Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Kansas City, Los Angeles Rams

International scheduling: The Lions have eight home games and nine road games in 2025, disqualifying them from hosting an international game in 2025. None of their road opponents are currently set to host one of six announced international games, either, so we’ll likely have to wait until at least 2026 to see a patented Lions Takeover abroad.

Rookie minicamp, OTAs and mandatory minicamp (May and June)

Come May, many free agents have signed, and rookies have been in the building for about a month. The rookies will go through rookie minicamp, then organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp before everybody officially breaks for a brief respite before training camp.

The offseason program is when teams install new offensive and defensive schemes. It’ll be especially important for the Lions this season; Detroit will have a new offensive coordinator (John Morton) for the first time since 2022 and a new defensive coordinator (Kelvin Sheppard) for the first time since 2021. It’s currently understood both coordinators will probably run systems close to their predecessors, so they won’t be completely starting from scratch, but this is where the nuances like verbiage start getting taught in the classroom and through on-field walkthroughs.

These dates are also notable because they bring football back into the news cycle, giving an early glimpse at new players on the roster and providing an opportunity to speak with many different players and coaches, most of whom will be talking at a team-sanctioned event for the first time since last season.

LaPorta and Branch, who were part of Detroit’s 2023 draft class, are recent examples of rookies who showed up in Allen Park and impressed during the spring, setting the tone for excellent rookie seasons. Last year, linebacker Jack Campbell used spring practices to prepare for responsibilities as the defensive play-caller, which came in handy when Anzalone went down with a forearm injury in 2024.

In 2024, the Lions gave media access to rookie minicamp on May 10 (assistant general manager Ray Agnew also spoke); OTAs access was on May 23, May 30 and June 10; mandatory minicamp was June 4, 5 and 6.

Training camp begins (Projected date: July 20-23)

Training camp can officially start on July 16, but generally, only the two teams playing in the annual preseason Hall-of-Fame Game start this early. Last season, the Lions began training camp on Wednesday, July 24. If they play in the opener against Philadelphia, there’s a good chance it’ll be moved up a few days to Sunday, July 20.

And with that, our long national nightmare of living life without football will be over. Only five more months, Lions fans.