Frank Ragnow's sudden retirement sends a harsh reminder to Lions

A frequently thrown-around phrase in sports is championship window. The two-word term refers to the amount of years a team should be a serious contender for a title. When a franchise has a good season, and also has several really good players all under contract for multiple years, fans and analysts point out that the team has entered a championship window.

In the NFL, one team that everyone believes is in a Super Bowl window is the Detroit Lions. The Lions are 27-7 in the last two seasons, with losses in the NFC Championship and the Divisional Round. While the franchise hasn’t been able to get over the hump yet, the belief is Detroit still has plenty of time, because it has arguably the best young core in the NFL.

Unfortunately, the Lions were recently reminded of the fault in that logic when starting center Frank Ragnow announced his decision to retire. The four-time Pro Bowl lineman just turned 29 years old, and everyone expected him to dominate in Detroit for several more years. However, he’s now hanging up his cleats, and the Lions are forced to replace him.

The unexpected decision from Ragnow should serve as a reminder to the NFL that championship windows are merely a concept because the league is extremely unpredictable from year to year.

Frank Ragnow’s retirement is a reminder there’s no such thing as a Super Bowl window

Make no mistake, the Lions are still loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and they absolutely should be in the mix for a Super Bowl title. However, they just lost both coordinators, and a key player to what they do offensively in one offseason. The league has shown that will be a trend as the years go on; every offseason, teams will undergo significant change in one way or another.

Of course, there are teams that go on dynastic runs like the New England Patriots, and more recently the Kansas City Chiefs, and also teams that quickly rebuild between eras like the Philadelphia Eagles. However, those situations have proven to be rare. Teams don’t have windows, they have now. A team is either good enough to contend for a title in a given season or it’s not; nothing can determine a team’s contender status in future years.

No matter how promising a team’s future outlook is, being a contender isn’t a guarantee. Injuries, salary cap issues, and roster/staff turnover are always around the corner. That’s why it’s so important to capitalize when all of the pieces are in place, because each season is its own entity, and it’s really hard to carry the magic over year to year.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell expressed that to the team and the media in an emotional speech following the NFC Championship loss in 2024, saying that repeating success is even harder than achieving the initial success. With so many factors at play each year, it’s hard to deliver in the same way every season. Detroit is witnessing that now with all of the change coming the team’s way.

More Lions news and analysis