ESPN believes the Detroit Lions are built for the future, but still have them outside the NFL’s top tier.

As the NFL offseason begins, experts are both offering their outlook for the upcoming months and making their projections for the 2025 season.

The latest comes from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who placed all 32 teams into 11 different tiers—from “still major contenders” to “yep, still rebuilding.”

The Detroit Lions were not listed in Fowler’s top “major contenders” list, although he appears to have reserved that tier for this year’s Super Bowl contenders; the champion Philadelphia Eagles and the runner-up Kansas City Chiefs. The Lions are in the next tier below—”on the cusp”—sharing the spot with the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills.

Overall, Fowler has a very positive outlook of the Lions’ future.

“The Lions still have one of the premier rosters in football and are one of its most complete teams despite their divisional round loss to Washington,” Fowler wrote. “They also are set up for long-term success, locking up several key players to extensions with plenty of 2025 cap space to spare. (Pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson and safety Kerby Joseph could be next on the extension line.) This allows Detroit to take calculated risks on premier talent without feeling beholden to addressing depth. They are deep just about everywhere. Detroit could use one more player on the defensive front, though, perhaps another pass rusher.”

Interestingly, ESPN’s rankings also include the average age of each team’s roster. The Lions’ average is listed as 26.5, which is just outside the top-10 of youngest roster.

In case you were wondering where the rest of the NFC North falls, the Packers and Vikings are in the third tier (“need a postseason breakthrough), while the Bears are in the eighth tier (“this could go either way”).

You can see Fowler’s entire breakdown here.

• In light of former Lions QB Kellen Moore earning the head coaching job of the New Orleans Saints, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press caught up with the Super Bowl-winning coach to reflect on his time in Detroit.

• Holly Campbell—Dan Campbell’s wife—has become a bit famous for her Instagram account, which gives us a rare look inside Dan’s personal life. Their Starbucks runs have become a staple on her social media, and now she’s teaming with Starbucks to give back to local youth. Neat story from MLive here.

 

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• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has 10 thoughts about the offseason, including a very notable one about the Lions: he thinks they’ll be open for a big swing.

• Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network began in NFL Combine preview series with an initial look at 17 different pass rushers in this year’s draft class.

• It looks like Amik Robertson is out of his cast after breaking his arm in the Divisional Round game and having subsequent surgery: