{"id":43874,"date":"2026-02-26T02:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43874"},"modified":"2026-02-26T02:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:33:18","slug":"lions-and-dan-campbell-may-lose-popular-player-to-ben-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43874","title":{"rendered":"Lions and Dan Campbell May Lose Popular Player to Ben Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2263358716-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2263358716-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2263358716-1.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2263358716-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Lions and Dan Campbell May Lose Popular Player to Ben Johnson\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Detroit Lions are rivals with every team in the NFC North, but their rivalry with the Chicago Bears takes on a greater importance, since the Lions\u2019 former offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, is in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>The Detroit Lions have already seen players and coaches head to Chicago, and now, a popular play may follow suit. The Lions are rebuilding their lineup and coaching staff after a disappointing 2025-26 season, so they\u2019re making chances, and sometimes, that even means letting go of popular players.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not all about the talent of the roster. Some of the decisions come down to dollars and cents.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Popular Detroit Lions Player May End Up In Chicago With the Bears and Ben Johnson<\/h2>\n<p>On Wednesday, February 25, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune\u00a0reported that the Chicago Bears are letting linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to seek a trade. The Bears seem ready to let him go, even though he\u2019s under contract for next season at $15 million, according to the report and the Tribune\u2019s research.<\/p>\n<p>So, what does this have to do with the Detroit Lions? \u201cWith a hole being created at linebacker, Alex Anzalone immediately becomes a potential option for Chicago during free agency,\u201d Richard Louis of Detroit Jock City states in a piece out on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Anzalone allowed 40 receptions for 409 yards and two touchdowns during 16 games with the Lions during the 2025-26 season. He finished with a 65.3 coverage grade and 65.6 run-defense grade.<\/p>\n<p>Louis notes that this would be a smart, and money-savvy, move for the Chicago Bears. \u201cSpotrac projects Anzalone to sign a two-year, $14.5 million deal, which pans out to $7.3 million per year. That would save Chicago $8-10 million at the position and give them a reliable veteran in place,\u201d he states in the piece.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Will Ben Johnson Steal Another Player From the Detroit Lions? It Would Save $8-10 Million for the Franchise<\/h2>\n<p>So, will this really happen? It\u2019s a real possibility, especially since it would save the Bears $8-10 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Lions fans don\u2019t want to hear about a former player going to a division rival, the odds that it happens with Anzalone took a significant jump on Wednesday,\u201d Biggs states in the piece. \u201cThe Bears could have a need at the position, and Anzalone would give them someone familiar with the defensive scheme at half the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biggs adds that \u201cfor a defender who is 31 years old and wants to play competitive football, the Bears would give Anzalone that opportunity, making this a storyline to watch in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth noting that ESPN\u2019s Matt Bowen has a feature out of his top 50 free agents for 2026 and included Anzalone as being of interest to the Tampa Bay Bucs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLavonte David is a free agent, and coach Todd Bowles needs more from his inside linebackers. Anzalone is quick to key the run, and Bowles is one of the best at scheming his linebackers on pressure stunts,\u201d he states in the feature. \u201cTampa Bay can add another productive veteran on defense here. Anzalone had 2.5 sacks and eight pass breakups in Detroit last season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Lions and head coach Dan Campbell may lose a beloved player to Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lions and Dan Campbell May Lose Popular Player to Ben Johnson - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43874\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lions and Dan Campbell May Lose Popular Player to Ben Johnson - 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