Detroit Lions Graham Glasgow Discusses Loss of Jonah Jackson

The Detroit Lions starting offensive line unit never got to play together all that much, as various injuries prevented the unit from meeting it's full potential. 

While the play was at a high level, supporters were left clamoring for more. 

Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Rams poached Jonah Jackson, Detroit's starting left guard in free agency. They offered the 27-year-old a three-year, $51 million contract. 

Despite Jackson's departure, Graham Glasgow, who signed a three-year, $20 million extension of his own, believes the offensive line can adapt and succeed moving forward. 

"I think we can still be really, really good," Glasgow said. "I think Jonah's an amazing player. He's very talented. He's a good guard. I just said this, 'I think the contract speaks for itself.' A lot of other teams also think that Jonah's really good. At the end of the day, it just comes down to, we're gonna work, we're gonna get after it and we'll figure it out." 

Kayode Awosika and Colby Sorsdal will compete for playing time in 2024 and the front office is expected to target an offensive lineman in this year's draft. 

"I think that 'Yode's super solid. I think that when you watch him play, I feel like he's not really deficient in any area. I feel like that's a good attribute to have," said Glasgow. "With O-line play, even if you do one thing really, really good, if the other thing's not very good I feel like people are gonna be pretty upset with you. In regards to Colby, I feel like he was a rookie. I think that he came a long way. He progressed pretty far and I feel like just watching him grow, technique-wise and also just from how he processed the game just over that last year. Coming from William & Mary, I feel like it was a good year for Colby." 

Glasgow did not leverage Detroit in negotiations

Glasgow signed a prove-it deal last offseason and earned his extension as a result of a stellar 2023 season. 

With multiple teams potentially interested, the veteran offensive lineman did not want to take advantage of any leverage he had, instead opting to take Detroit's offer. 

"I talked to my agent, I think the night before the tampering period. There's always -- you can always see that there's some interest from other teams, even if you're not talking about money. He told me what they had kind of offered," explained Glasgow. "I said I didn't even really want to really wait and see or use other teams offers to maybe go back and try and get more money. I just kind of wanted to get it done and have it be done." 

Sting of losing NFC Championship game

Two months after losing to the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit's roster is understandably anticipating the start of the upcoming season. 

Glasgow expressed having an opportunity to return was another factor that increased his desire to return to Motown. 

"I mean, yeah, that was another part of why I wanted to come back. I feel like when you have a really, really good season with a good team, and then things don't end the way you want them to go, I feel like you'd like to come back. You want to come back," said Glasgow. "You want to get another crack at it. 

"I play video games, you don't want to end on a loss, you want to try to end on a win. I feel like coming back here and being able to do that and having an opportunity to come back and have another crack at it is really good."