Taylor Decker is coming back.
Decker, the Detroit Lions’ longtime left tackle, announced Tuesday afternoon he plans to return for the 2026 season.
He posted on his Instagram a picture of himself running out of the tunnel at Ford Field in a black Lions uniform, quoting: “'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, 'Here am I; SEND ME!' #Year11"
Decker’s decision comes nearly three months after he first disclosed to the Free Press he was considering retirement for family and health reasons, and gives the Lions a measure of stability on their offensive line.
"Obviously Taylor, he’s earned the right to have as much space as he needs to reflect on a long season and we respect him, we give him that," Lions general manager Brad Holmes said Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, a few hours before Decker's public announcement. "But obviously with the start of the new league year coming, that’s obviously you want as much clarity as possible, so within these next couple of weeks we’ll make sure that we have that clarity."
Decker missed three games with a shoulder injury last season and played the rest of the year through nagging pain that he said made it difficult to do everyday things like pick up his kids and grab a cup off a shelf.
“Ideally, I would play. I would continue to play,” Decker said at the time. “But I just need to sit and evaluate, and … this is not a decision that I want to make now or kind of consider right now, cause it would be an emotional decision. 'Cause like I said, right now, this has not been a fun year. But I know if I remove those variables that have made it unfun, I still enjoy playing football. And I think I'm playing really well.”
A first-round pick, No. 16 overall, out of Ohio State in 2016, Decker has been a fixture on the Lions offensive line for a decade. He’s started 140 career games, all at left tackle, and made the Pro Bowl in 2024 as an alternate.
But the 32-year-old also has battled injuries throughout his career, undergoing five major surgeries on his shoulder (twice), finger, ankle and toe.
Last spring, Decker underwent surgery to relieve pain in his shoulder caused by bone spurs growing in his rotator cuff. The procedure kept him out for the start of training camp and contributed to issues with his bicep after he returned.
He also has undergone several less invasive procedures like nerve ablations on the C1-C7 vertebrae in his neck throughout the years.
Decker told the Free Press in December he does not want to go through another surgery.
“People have it worse, but like, that’s five surgeries,” he said. “Anesthesia’s not good for you, the recovery’s not good for you, body trauma, it’s not good for you. I think if I had to have another major surgery just to be able to play, I probably wouldn’t.”
Decker’s decision to return for 2026 comes less than a year after his good friend Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow retired prematurely last June.
The Lions struggled to replace Ragnow on the field last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Even with Decker returning, the Lions aren't done revising the interior of their offensive line.
"Look, if it’s not [Decker], then we got to find a guy," coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday before Decker announced his plans. "But if it is, we still got to find a guy, because as much as I love Deck, it’s, he’s got some things that are going to need some management and that’s kind of where we’re at. And so one way or another, we’re going to need somebody that can play over there and that can help us if need him in a crunch or we need him as a starter. So that’s important."
With Decker back, the Lions return four of five starters from last year’s offensive line but still will be in the market for help at the center position this spring.
Veteran Graham Glasgow is not expected to return after moving from guard to center to replace Ragnow last season and swing tackle Dan Skipper announced his retirement in January. Skipper has since rejoined the Lions as an assistant offensive line coach.
The Lions also need to start planning for life beyond Decker at left tackle. All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell could move to the left side, but Gio Manu, a fourth-round pick in 2024 who’s played sparingly the past two seasons, has not developed yet to the point the Lions consider him a starter.
The Lions could address one of their needs up front in free agency when the new league year opens March 11, and they have the 17th pick in the first round in April’s draft.
Guards Tate Ratledge and Christian Mahogany also return as starters, though Ratledge could move to center if the Lions fail to land a capable starter elsewhere and Mahogany missed six games last season with a broken bone in his leg.
As for Decker, Campbell said he had a conversation with the Lions' longest-tenured player "when the season ended about just him taking his time to figure out if this is what he really feels like he wants to do [and] can do."
The two have been in contact since, though Campbell said he wanted to keep details of that conversation private.
"We’ve been digging," Campbell said. "We’ve been looking at stuff, but until we can kind of figure a little bit of those pieces out, and then exactly who is going to be available, who are we going to have the ability to potentially go after, how does that affect another position or the depth of the roster, then we’re kind of, we’re waiting it out here a little bit."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Taylor Decker announces Detroit Lions return for 2026 NFL season