Graham Glasgow open to a return to Detroit Lions but eyeing free agency

One of the bigger decisions the Detroit Lions will face in the 2020 offseason is the fate of starting right guard Graham Glasgow. Though he was a prime candidate for an extension this year, the two sides did not come to an agreement, and there’s growing doubt that the 2016 third-round pick will stay in Detroit after this season, despite four years of solid starting play.

Glasgow, himself, didn’t exactly inspire much confidence in his return to the Lions when meeting with a group of reporters on Friday afternoon. When asked if he was thinking about testing the free agency market this upcoming offseason, here was his response, per the Detroit News:

“At this point in time, it would almost be dumb not to. I made it through the entire year. I’m open to talk to (the Lions), but they’re actually going to have a conversation.”

Going into 2019, it seemed like Glasgow was a sure re-signing for the future. In 2017 and 2018, he had played all but one offensive snap, and his versatility playing both guard positions and center made him a key cog that could shift over if injuries were to hit Detroit’s interior offensive line.

But the Lions treated him much differently this season. After choosing to extend Joe Dahl instead, the Lions rotated Glasgow throughout the entire year, taking him off the field in favor of Kenny Wiggins for a couple of drives in every game. Glasgow’s performance remained well above average, but the Lions clearly haven’t had serious discussions with him about extending his career here.

“I’m only operating off how much information I have and there’s not really a lot of information,” Glasgow said. ”I’m just going about it how I can.”

If the Lions were to consider extending Glasgow, the price wouldn’t be cheap. To give you an idea of the market for interior offensive lineman, the Bengals are handing their center, Trey Hopkins, a three-year extension worth $20.4 million, per Ian Rapoport. Hopkins and Glasgow are both 27 years old.

Regardless, Glasgow is heading into Sunday’s finale against the Green Bay Packers knowing there’s a very real possibility that it will be his last football played in the state of Michigan for some time.

“If we’re being honest, you take it day by day, but that’s something I’ve kind of been thinking about this whole year,” Glasgow said. ”At this point in time, it’s the end. I don’t know how things will go and nobody knows. We’ll see with that. Just looking forward to going out with these guys one more time and seeing what we can do.”