Signing a reserve nose tackle doesn’t move the neddle for a lot of fans, but Roy lopez may be exactly what the Lions need.
With the NFL officially turning the page to 2025, free agency is open, and the Detroit Lions are strategically making moves to improve their roster. Adding depth on the defensive line was a logical place to invest during free agency, and the Lions did just that by re-signing Levi Onwuzurike and signing Roy Lopez away from the Cardinals .
With Lopez being new to Detroit, let’s examine how his signing will impact the Lions roster now and in the future.
Origin story
Originally a sixth round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans , Lopez started 29 games at nose tackle over his first two seasons in the league. However, he was released with an injury settlement during his third year training camp and elected to join the Cardinals. Over two seasons in Arizona, he started another 21 games, and was identified by many Cardinals’ writers as one of the best players on a bad roster.
2024 role: Starting nose tackle
Lopez started 16 games at nose tackle in 2024 and registered 28 tackles, 18 pressures (per PFF), four tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, three pass deflections, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. His PFF grades are middling at best, but that’s not overly surprising considering his position is typically graded low, and that he was playing on a bad defense.
2025 role: Rotational NT with starting range
DJ Reader is the returning starter at nose tackle but he will turn 31 years old this summer and has a near $13 million cap hit. It’s possible that Readers’ age and contract are too much for the Lions to justify, and they could have looked to cut him loose, but I feel like the Lions would have already made this move if that were the case. This Lions regime typically does right by their players, and if they were going to release him, they likely would’ve done it at the beginning of free agency so he could find a new home. They didn’t, so I am operating under the assumption that Reader will remain on the roster.
Therefore, I believe it’s likely that the plan is to deploy Reader as the starter again in 2025, but to scale back his snaps, and bring on Lopez in a rotational role. While Lopez may not technically be the starter, he would probably see a similar level of snaps.
There’s also a realistic chance that Alim McNeill could miss some of the beginning of the regular season due to his ACL injury, and if that is indeed the case, Lopez could be relied upon even further to take starter-level snaps.
Brodric Martin would currently be NT3, but that role is a likely inactive on game day, so he’d have a lot of work to do to find snaps.
Free agency impact
With the signing of Lopez, along with re-signings of Onwuzurike, Myles Adams, and Chris Smith, the Lions now have eight interior defensive linemen on their current roster, with Reader, McNeill, Martin, and Mekhi Wingo rounding out the group. It’s possible the Lions could also re-sign a player like Pat O’Connor and/or Kyle Peko, but as far as adding more external talent, it seems unlikely.
NFL Draft impact
While the Lions have eight interior defensive linemen on the current roster, only McNeill, Wingo, and Martin are signed beyond this season. And with Martin a potential bubble player, that leaves the Lions cupboard fairly empty in the very near future.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes always drafts with the future in mind, and with only minimal players under contract beyond 2025, it’s quite possible he elects to find talent in the draft. This is a very deep defensive tackle class and the Lions could find contributors with high developmental ceilings on Day 3 of the draft. Two of my favorite potential Day 3 prospects for the Lions scheme are Ty Robinson (Nebraska) and CJ West (Indiana).
However, if the Lions plan to deploy Onwuzurike as they did in 2024—using him as a big defensive end and an interior defender—combined with McNeill’s injury, finding another contributing 3-technique could be a higher priority than it appears on the surface. If that’s the case, targeting an interior prospect earlier in the draft could be on the table. Potential Day 2 prospects like Darius Alexander (Toledo) and Joshua Farmer (Florida State), who are good run stuffers from the 3-technique, could be appealing.