Lions trade David Montgomery to the Texans

[RodWoodsonsACL]

which then brings the question, what is Juice’s salary? Are we better off to just cut him and use the space now?

[Hins0042]

From the lens of DMo for a 4th, an IOL, and a 7th, DMo is obviously more proven than the package. From that same lens, you can say we received fair compensation. I believe that is true as well.

But then we can say, new IOL allows for GG to be cut as well. Does that make DMo & GG for a 4th, 7th, IOL and cap space look differently? Many here, me included, believed GG was going to be cut regardless so maybe it isn’t relevant to the conversation.

But that is why it is hard to look at singular moves in a vacuum. We can do it on a case by case, but the real measure wont truly be known until we see the whole of the offseason. What does the Front Office do with all of these new assets. We only truly know what was surrendered to secure them.

But jane_doe has it right with her, “it’s terrible news. Or a terrible situation, a terrible loss.” assessment. No way to get around the loss of the personality. But it feels like a move that needed to be done for many reasons. Now it is and we can see what the beans, the acquisition, and the cap space turn into.

[frm710]

@RodWoodsonsACL

which then brings the question, what is Juice’s salary? Are we better off to just cut him and use the space now?

Why include him in the trade then?
He provides depth and see what a change in scenery does for him.

[jane_doe]

@RodWoodsonsACL

which then brings the question, what is Juice’s salary? Are we better off to just cut him and use the space now?

The salary is so miniscule, it wouldn’t make sense to cut him now. If he works out, he’s an inexpensive asset. If he doesn’t work out, we get some extra buffer for the regular season – to acquire replacement-level replacements for injuries, a bit of extra juice for the trade deadline, even rollover for the next season.

[DeadStroke]

@Jah26

But the bottom line here is $$$.

Always a factor and usually the most important

@TouchdownMyPants

That’s not true, the bottom line is Monty wanted to be a more involved piece of an offense and the Lions did right by him (like they always do with the player) and granted a trade.

I think the halo above our head is a little much. Bottom line you don’t want players that aren’t happy and that’s why we moved on from him.. He was happy in in 2023 and 2024, not so much in 2025.

@smann7

Monty is 11th in the NFL for yearly salary,

The extension that he signed in 2024, actually put him at 12th in new money. That $3M extension signing bonus in 2024 and is long gone, it has no barring in the cash he’s owed in 2026. He’s making $6M in cash in 2026, he also made $6M in cash in 2025. $6M salary puts him 19th. When you consider the number of starting running backs on their rookie contracts, his compensation is probably where it should be, a top paid backup RB.

@Thats2

Honestly though, when you consider Scruggs’s salary, we’re really only saving about $2M in 2026 space.

Well, he’s taking a roster spot of a player that would be making at least $885K, so that should be factored in. Scruggs is making $600K more than a street free agent, but he’s probably has a better chance of making the roster.

@TouchdownMyPants

Money wasn’t the issue

Money is always an issue. They may have kept DMo if he was happy. His 2026 cash due is the same as was due in 2025, $6M.

@Tmanqz

He’s due like 10 million in 2027. No one paying a 30-year-old RB that much. Sign him back next year as a FA for 2 million.

$9M, I’m sure Houston will work out a revised deal that will pay him $7M-$8M/yr, a signing bonus and guaranteed money. Two years minimum in Houston.

@3rdRGR

In what bizzaro math world is a 2026 4th round pick, plus a player, plus a 2027 7th round pick “Fifth round value?” Sounds like Rap got his initial reporting wrong, then had to update it, but somehow was trying to spin it like it was “basically” what I said originally?!

Supposedly another team got involved and bumped up the compensation from Houston.

@TouchdownMyPants

Oh yeah, less than 1% of the cap freed up to sign a bunch of FAs lol you crack me up

2%, ($6M/$301,200,000) or $6M in cash, you can get a pretty decent player for $6M.

@TouchdownMyPants

Oh, and idk what your talking about with no dead cap, there’s almost $5 million in dead cap from this move… They net barely $2 million in savings after factoring in Juice’s salary

People that talk about dead cap are generally people that don’t understand it. It’s about cash due vs production, dead cap is what it is and unless you or NO, Philly, Cleveland, it’s meaningless when you absorb it, you have to recognize the cap charges at some point, irrelevant if it’s in 2026, 2027 or even 2028.

@TouchdownMyPants

Yep, less than $2 million

It’s $6M in savings, $2M in 2026 and $4M in 2027.

@Jah26

Monty’s cap hit was $8m and that’s the only number that matters in this conversation.

I’d say cash due is the most important, cap hit kind of just falls into place based on the cash due. Followed by DMo’s personal feelings

@TouchdownMyPants

So the dead cap number has zero to do with it?

Looking at dead cap is really overrated

Personally, I think that $6M for DM’s services for 2026 is a fair price and if he was happy, I think we would have kept him and paid that amount. When looking at cutting/trading a player, it has to do more with cash than cap hits . . . cash is and has always been king.

[Air2theThrown]

I think we see him mostly as a backup center. I’m not sure he moves well enough to be a starting guard in our system. But I think he could be a starting center.

Most likely he’s a back-up center…. Swing IOL type.

I think he brings value in helping a young rookie along.

[Jah26]

Thanks for clarifying the nuances of the financial implications, and as you say $ is always a top consideration.

I can only guess that from Dmo’s perspective, his production needs to be maxed so that he can protect future earnings. He knows that if his production falls off again (or even stays the same at 30 years old), there’s no way the Lions nor anyone else is going to pay him the $7.5 million in cash his contract calls for in 2027. And I really don’t think the Lions want to be on the hook for for upwards of $30m AAV for their top 2 RBs next season after they extend Gibbs. I think Brad will have been looking at all this and thinking something needed to be done for sure in 2027 and if not sooner.

A 3rd day draft pick would cost peanuts and if they ID the right one he could be as productive as a 29 year old Dmo.

[Wrath-SRT]

So not be that guy but the only time Monty was healthy for a whole season in Detroit was with reduced touches.

All this talk about how he would be RB 1 these other places and he never started and finished more than 13 games in a reduced role in Detroit.

But some how you are trying to tell me he can ramp that up at 29 years old with a much worse offensive line?

David as the starter in Houston won’t match the production he had in a part time role in Detroit

[Air2theThrown]

@CMafia

I will never understand after two years of him and Gibbs dominating how they could mess that up.

I respect what you’re saying but I do not think of it the way you do.

I am a Monty fan. I really liked what he brought to the table however there was a lot at play here.

1. Monty wanted to be the feature back and to get more carries.

2. Gibbs was the rising star who also deserved more carries. When he got those carries Monty became hurt, upset and felt under appreciated.

3. Together they are awesome but egos get in the way.

4. CHI sent Monty packing for the same reason the Lions did. Monty wasn’t happy in a shared backfield. He wants to be the lead back getting the majority of the snaps.

5. The Lions were getting calls about trading him before the deadline. Lots of calls actually. There were several teams offering up trade options but the Lions were still in a battle for the division so they couldn’t trade him then. Instead they chose to protect that trade option and to use Monty sparingly. If he got hurt or showed decline his trade value would follow. This also made Monty want to be out even more so.

6. The Lions had made up their minds to trade Monty back in October. He was disgruntled, Gibbs was the future and the Lions needed cap space. The writing was on the wall.

7. A 4th alone is good compensation for Monty. Most experts thought it would be less but Monty is too good and has enough tread to get more than the 5th most projected. We received good value for him.

Put your emotions aside and look at what other players like him have brought at his age and you will see we did well both for the Lions and for Monty.

I wish Monty well. He will be missed.

Hopefully we can find a solid replacement for him.

[JerseyJungle]

weighing in from a carribean catamaran. Hate to see this, but a fourth and a seventh is good return. Hope to get a late round big back!

[Jah26]

@JerseyJungle

weighing in from a carribean catamaran.

I work remotely about 200 yards from El Caribe, as they call it here. Weather’s been much better than it was last month!

[JerseyJungle]

Winds are crazy here in St Barth’s. Wifey is down for the count. But being a trooper.

[TouchdownMyPants]

@DeadStroke

Money is always an issue. They may have kept DMo if he was happy. His 2026 cash due is the same as was due in 2025, $6M.

Exactly… Money wasn’t the issue as far as why he was traded… Which was my point.

@DeadStroke

Bottom line you don’t want players that aren’t happy and that’s why we moved on from him.. He was happy in in 2023 and 2024, not so much in 2025.

This is my entire argument… Traded bc he was unhappy, not bc of money

@DeadStroke

2%, ($6M/$301,200,000) or $6M in cash, you can get a pretty decent player for $6M.

@DeadStroke

It’s $6M in savings, $2M in 2026 and $4M in 2027.

So which is it? 2 million or 6 million in 2026? Like I said if 2 million, less than 1%

[Slay]

My thoughts:

• I didn’t want to trade DMo and I don’t really get why we did. We can’t rely on Gibbs being fully healthy for 20 games, and being able to lean on a different type of back has all sorts of value in resting Gibbs and in adapting to game circumstances. RB2 is now a hole that needs filling with someone who can step up and be RB1 in an emergency, which probably means that it’s not going to be Vaki, Sailors, or a rookie. This means paying the money we saved on DMo to a free agent, who’s probably not going to be as good as DMo. Call me old fashioned but DMo signed a contract, tell him to man the f up and honor the contract he signed.
• I also don’t get why Brad jumped out and gave DMo an extension in 2024. This was a season and a half into Gibbs’ career, it was clear that Gibbs was the better and more dynamic player who would demand more touches and that 50/50 wasn’t sustainable. DMo could have been allowed to walk for a comp pick at the end of 2024, and both cap space and cash would have been saved too. Extending DMo struck me at the time as a move that lacked foresight, and it seems even more that way now.
• A 4th, a 7th and an IOL bubble player is an excellent return for a 29 year old RB.
• I hope that the plan at Center involves more than Scruggs, Niese and Seth McLaughlin competing to start. Collecting a bunch of waifs and strays and hoping that one of them elevates above the others isn’t how to solve roster problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if Scruggs doesn’t make the final 53.
• Good luck DMo, and thanks for being an awesome Lion.

[Jah26]

No. The Lions received $3.5m in cap relief for 2026, Scruggs doesn’t count he was a throw in after the bidding war. Monty was going to be traded, as Air noted above, and this goes back into last season. This was going to come to a head no matter what, because Dmo has a non-guaranteed base salary of $7.5m in 2027 (with a $9m cap hit).

So whether Monty was happy or not, that 2027 money was never going to be paid in full for a 30 year old #2 RB.

Monty is unhappy because he KNOWS this is all about money: his future earnings. If he can’t prove he’s worth that 2027 money in DET he will want to try and prove it somewhere else. He loves his buddy Sonic but business is business.

The Lions have been looking at moving on from Monty for a while. Brad has to be looking at these numbers - $13 million in cash over the next two years - and wanting to get out of from under that and add a CHEAP number two to go with a super expensive Gibbs.

It’s about money all the way around. Not “zero” as you say. It’s the heart of the matter for both Dmo and Brad. As Deadstroke notes, you can be sure that $$$ is the chief consideration in the NFL, above all else.

[BigNatty]

@Air2theThrown
That’s smart ppl talk. Really enjoyed some of the points you made that I wasn’t seeing

[BigNatty]

I really agree that another back, especially a different style one, is important. If Gibby gets hurt, a MASSSIVE drop off in talent.

I loved our OL and Monty, and that they could beat your ass physically.

[JD9]

Don’t double down with Deadstroke on this topic bro

[JD9]

I mean after that entire description, doesn’t it tell you Monty wasn’t happy and wanted out? It’s pretty obvious that is the main factor here. Equally as important, you don’t pay a backup RB that much money when he’s pouting about his role…

I don’t know if it could be more obvious or make more sense as to why he was traded after all the factors that you mentioned

[BigNatty]

Great post, my man