{"id":740602,"date":"2026-02-09T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/740602\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T16:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:00:23","slug":"predicting-david-montgomerys-future-with-detroit-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/740602\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting David Montgomery\u2019s Future With Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The David Montgomery<\/a> conversation is back on the table in Detroit, not because he forgot how to run angry, but because his role shrank in 2025 and the Lions have real cap decisions to make.<\/p>\n

Even so, with Drew Petzing<\/a> taking over as offensive coordinator, I truly believe the Lions are going to find a way to keep Montgomery around for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Montgomery Instagram post meaning Brad Holmes David Montgomery future Lions<\/p>\n

Why Montgomery\u2019s future is being questioned<\/p>\n

Montgomery\u2019s workload dip in 2025 is the fuel for all of this. He finished the season with 158 carries for 716 yards (4.5 YPC) and 8 rushing TDs.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

That\u2019s still productive \u2014 but it\u2019s also the type of usage that makes fans (and front offices) ask: Do we pay RB2 money for RB2 touches?<\/p>\n

Why I think Detroit keeps him in 2026<\/p>\n

Petzing\u2019s background screams \u201ckeep the power back.\u201d In Detroit\u2019s official announcement, the team noted that Petzing\u2019s Cardinals offenses ranked near the top of the league in rushing efficiency over his OC tenure.<\/p>\n

That matters because Montgomery isn\u2019t just a \u201cbackup.\u201d He\u2019s:<\/p>\n

your tone-setter in short yardage<\/p>\n

your closer when you want to bleed a game out<\/p>\n

the physical complement to Jahmyr Gibbs that keeps defenses honest<\/p>\n

If Petzing leans into a more balanced, run-forward identity, Montgomery becomes a feature, not a luxury.<\/p>\n

The cap math that makes this a real debate<\/p>\n

Montgomery\u2019s 2026 cap hit shows why his name pops up in \u201ccap casualty\u201d conversations.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

And yes, if the Lions cut him with a post\u2013June 1 designation, the cap savings can be significant:<\/p>\n

$6 million in 2026 cap space<\/p>\n

$9 million in 2027 cap space<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the leverage point for the front office.<\/p>\n

3 key points<\/p>\n

Montgomery still produced in 2025 (716 rushing yards, 8 TDs) even with fewer touches.<\/p>\n

Petzing\u2019s history suggests Detroit will want a dependable power element in the run game.<\/p>\n

The post\u2013June 1 savings ($6M in 2026, $9M in 2027) explains why rumors won\u2019t die.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/p>\n

Montgomery has plenty of value as Detroit\u2019s second back, and the reduced workload in 2025 is why the speculation exists. But with Drew Petzing now steering the offense \u2014 and with Detroit still needing identity, toughness, and reliability on the ground, I expect the Lions to keep David Montgomery for the 2026 season and let \u201cSonic and Knuckles\u201d run it back one more time.<\/p>\n

The post Predicting David Montgomery\u2019s Future With Detroit Lions<\/a> appeared first on Detroit Sports Nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The David Montgomery conversation is back on the table in Detroit, not because he forgot how to run…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[597,146,113,2506,24101,7,1674,147,6],"class_list":["post-740602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-david-montgomery","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-drew-petzing","tag-football","tag-jahmyr-gibbs","tag-lions","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116041511380339702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}