Al-Quadin Muhammad Departing Is Not Really Bad News

The Detroit Lions will not have the services of Al-Quadin Muhammad in 2026.

After visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the second day of the new NFL league year, the veteran defensive end has reportedly inked a one-year free agent contract worth up to $6 million.

After returning to Motown again in 2024, the 30-year old was able to put together a career season playing opposite of star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. In 2025, Muhammad recorded 11 sacks.

While that productivity will be tough to match, Detroit's defense is clearly making an effort to get younger and more talented.

The 2026 NFL Draft is expected to have many defensive ends that could come in and contribute early in their NFL careers.

Currently, Detroit does not have many defensive ends on the roster to play opposite of Aidan Hutchinson. Defensive lineman Josh Paschal was cut and Tyrus Wheat also departed to join the Dallas Cowboys.

Tyler Lacey and Ahmed Hassanein have an opportunity to earn more playing time at the position.

Free agent Cameron Jordan is also available, but rumors are swirling that the veteran defensive end is planning to joing the Kansas City Chiefs.

Detroit's defense struggled last season, allowing 82 explosive passing plays and 23 explosing rushing gains.

Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is seeking to vastly improve the team's ability to get off the field on third-down and to limit explosive plays.

The former NFL linebacker chalked up about half of the explosive plays to just being beat by quality NFL players, but subtle changes could produce the needed results.

“There’s another 30-40 percent that had no business being there, and it’s subtle things. It’s not like a mass overhaul where we were totally out of the park, out of the realm of comprehension of what we were supposed to be doing," Sheppard said. "Now, we have the chart and we understand this could’ve been coached better, this is poor execution, this is gross awareness of the situation and this player just got beat on this play.

"And let’s take the band-aid off, let’s talk about it and then let’s get that solution so we can line up next season to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

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