Photo Credit: Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

The Lions have officially traded David Montgomery to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick, a 2027 seventh-round pick, and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs.

His 562 carries, 2506 yards, and 33 rushing touchdowns over his three-year career will be sorely missed, as will the person David Montgomery is off of the field.

Obviously, it’s not a good feeling when a fan favorite, and productive player, gets moved. However, the value the Lions got in return was more than fair, and was more than the initial projected value of a fifth-round pick. Let’s dive into what they got, and what it means for the Lions.

2026 Fourth Round Pick: Pick 128, originally from Houston. 27th pick of fourth round.
Offers flexibility in the draft, especially without currently owning a third round pick. I probably would’ve been happy with just this pick in return for Montgomery. The Lions can now add another solid prospect, or use it as a trade chip to move up, which they have done many times in the past. This draft us pretty solid, and an extra fourth could be just what Detroit needed.

2027 Seventh Round Pick: Pick number unknown as of now.
Yet another dart to throw. Obviously, seventh-round picks are not normally starter level players, but the Lions have had some success finding depth players in that range. Just added value at this point.

IOL Juice Scruggs: Depth lineman with loads of versatility and solid experience.
It would have been really nice to add a starter-level linemen here, but in this deal, Scruggs is a very nice get. He was a second-round pick out of Penn State in 2023, and has seen 20 starts and 1,829 total career snaps. He offers a ton of versatility, as 1,045 of those snaps came at left guard, 586 came at center, and 216 at right guard. Clearly, the Lions are getting a very high end backup. In his only games at center, he was graded as the 15th-best center in the NFL per PFF. He is likely not the answer at center, but he certainly offers value. He is also still currently on his rookie deal, which means he is relatively cheap as well.

Overall, this was a good trade for the Lions, as they got more value than the reported asking price of a 5th round pick. Not only did they net the fourth rounder, they also added more capital late and a depth linemen.

What does this mean for Detroit?

The Lions didn’t just gain draft capital and depth, they also lost a pretty focal point of their offense, which they will need to replace. They added around $3.5 million in cap space by trading him they can now use to try and replace him. There are many different possibilities for a replacement, let’s take a look.

FREE AGENCY:

There are actually quite a bit of solid options for the Lions to replace Montgomery in free agency this season. For the sake of time, I’ll give you my top three.
Tyler Allgeier: Allgeier is a very solid replacement option, having a very similar style. He is also young at just 25, and will likely be cheap, projected to get just over $5 million per year, per Spotrac. Allgeier would probably be my top target, but he will have a higher price than some of the other possibilities, which makes me think he will sign somewhere with a bigger role available.
JK Dobbins: Dobbins may not be the same style of back as Monty, but he has all the potential to be just as good of a weapon in this offense. He has a ton of talent, and was having a pretty good year in Denver prior to his injury, racking up 772 yards on 153 carries, an average of 5.0, while also reaching the end zone four times in just 10 games. The reports are that Dobbins is likely to return to Denver, but if he doesn’t, the Lions should take a look. He has had injury issues throughout his career, so maybe being a backup would be good for his long-term success. At just 27, and projected to get under $3 million per year, per Spotrac, he would be a cheap, young addition.
Brian Robinson Jr: Robinson might be my favorite possibility. At just 26 years old, he offers youth, while also matching Montgomery’s bruising style. He is likely to only get around $3 million per year, per Spotrac, which would make him a very cheap replacement who would be able to get the job done. Robinson has shown he can be productive as a starter or backup, averaging 4.3 yards per carry in either role over his two year career.
HM: Jerome Ford, A.J. Dillon, Miles Sanders, Rachaad White.

The Lions still have some work to do, but I think they won this trade.

While trading Montgomery hurts, both on field and in your heart, it was likely the best thing to do for both sides. Luckily, the Lions got a lot of capital in return, and Monty went somewhere he will be the feature back.

Hopefully the Lions can use this added capital well, and add impact players to this team.

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