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Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill preached that the team has to work harder in 2024 after the NFC championship game loss.

Alim McNeil feels that he has his explosiveness back for the Detroit Lions. The Lions defensive tackle said he feels night and day different between entering his fifth year and his sixth NFL season, which could lead to a major bounce-back season.

After the 2023 season, McNeil was trending toward becoming one of the better interior defensive linemen in the NFL and a cornerstone piece of the Lions’ defense. He recorded a career-high five sacks and 10 quarterback hits on 43 pressures. It led to the team giving him an extension. However, things have not been as good since then.

McNeil was solid in 2024, but only recorded 3.5 sacks and seven hits, despite 45 pressures. However, he ended the year with a torn ACL and only played 14 games. The ACL lingered into his 2025 season. He was rehabbing all offseason; he only played 10 games, and he had just one sack on three hits and 23 pressures. This was the worst version we have seen of McNeil.

That is why this year is so important. McNeil is healthy and explosive and appears ready to justify Detroit’s continued investment in him.

The Detroit Lions are Expecting a Big Year from Alim McNeil

This is a pivotal season for McNeil. It is easy to explain away the injuries, but now Detroit has serious financial decisions to make. The Lions will have cap hits of $27.7M and $29.2M in 2027 and 2028. However, they could move on from him after this year, eat $15.9M in dead cap, and save the rest of the money.

Even when the Lions signed him, they thought this might be a good time to extend McNeil. This would be another way to lower his cap hits for the future. However, now that he has had the injuries occur, the debate is whether extending him or just moving on altogether is the move.

If McNeil plays well, the team could look to extend him still, but considering he has legitimate guaranteed money coming, he might not want to play ball. Still, if he is unwilling to negotiate with the Lions, they could outright cut him next year, even if he does get back to his old ways. The cap hits are that high.

If McNeil does not perform, it is clear that the team cannot hold onto him at that cap price, so they will have to let him go.

Lions are Looking for an Improved Interior Defensive Front

McNeil should be healthier, and his teammate Levi Onwurzike, who missed all of the 2025 season, is expected to be healthy for 2026. The group should be much improved in their presence alone.

More than that, the Lions are looking for a step forward from their former first-round pick Tyleik Williams, as he enters his second year in the NFL. Detroit also added Jay Tuefele in free agency and drafted Skyler Gil-Howard and Tyre West this offseason. Those are late-round picks and depth veterans, but that should give the Lions a better unit from top to bottom.