Former Iowa State Cyclones star David Montgomery represents one-half of one of the most dynamic two-pronged rushing attacks in football, as he and Jahmyr Gibbs wreaked havoc on the NFL with the Detroit Lions last season.
However, one thing is now clear in Detroit: Gibbs is the No. 1 back, and Montgomery, two years removed from the best season of his professional career, is in a secondary role.
Gibbs carried the ball 250 times for 1,412 yards and a league-leading 16 touchdowns in 2024 while Montgomery totaled 775 yards and 12 scores on 185 attempts.
The two halfbacks do fill very different roles. Montgomery is the thunder to Gibbs’ lightning. The question is, how much longer will the Lions be willing to pay both weapons?
Gibbs becomes eligible for a contract extension after next season, and based on his early production, it seems safe to say that he will remain in Detroit for the long haul. But will the Lions keep both Gibbs and Montgomery?
To be fair, Montgomery is not exactly earning Saquon Barkley money. He will make $6 million in 2025, and he carries cap hits of $8.4 million and $10.2 million, respectively, in 2026 and 2027. The rub is that Montgomery just turned 27 years old, and NFL running backs do not have a long shelf life.
Montgomery’s ground-and-pound style will surely wear his body down quicker than a halfback who relies mainly on his speed (like Gibbs), so he may not have many incredibly productive seasons left. Heck, he saw a dip in efficiency this past year.
It may serve Detroit well to actually consider a trade for Montgomery, who definitely holds some value around the league at the moment. There would be plenty of teams willing to add him to their backfield, so the Lions could reap a decent haul for the Iowa State product.
Will it happen soon? Probably not, but if Detroit has a disappointing first half of 2025, a world exists in which the Lions could potentially move Montgomery at the trade deadline, and it’s a bit surprising that no one has broached this subject just yet.
The Cincinnati native spent three years at Iowa State between 2016 and 2018, posting back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns to end his career with the Cyclones. Montgomery was then selected by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
