The Detroit Lions are 1-1 to begin the 2026 NFL season after a Week 1 victory at home over the New Orleans Saints, followed by a Week 2 setback on the road against the Buffalo Bills.
Right now, the Lions are second overall in the NFC North Division with a 1-1 record, the same mark as former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears. While the Minnesota Vikings lead the division with a 2-0 record, the Green Bay Packers have stumbled out to a 1-2 start.
And speaking of the Packers, they’ve signed a former Detroit Lions first-round draft pick to help with their struggling offensive line.
Former Detroit Lions First-Round Draft Pick Laken Tomlinson Joins The Divisional Rival Packers
On Saturday afternoon, former Detroit Lions first-round draft selection Laken Tomlinson, who had been on the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys, was signed by the divisional rival Green Bay Packers, as reported by NFL Insider Ian Rapoport:
Long-time NFL guard Laken Tomlinson is being signed by the #Packers off the #Cowboys practice squad, per me and Mike Garafolo,” Rapoport reported on X, formerly known as Twitter. “At age 34, with 162 starts under his belt, Tomlinson will help an O-line that needs it.”
The news was confirmed by Packers beat writer Ryan Wood, who wrote the following update on X:
“Can confirm #Packers are signing veteran guard Laken Tomlinson off the Cowboys PS, as @RapSheet reported. With the OL becoming an existential threat to this season, Brian Gutekunst isn’t sitting around. Tomlinson, at age 34, has 162 starts in 11 seasons.”
The Packers, who are in their bye week, next play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road on Oct. 4.
Laken Tomlinson Was Taken By The Lions In The 2015 NFL Draft
The Lions took Tomlinson in the first round (28th overall pick) in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft; he became the first Duke Blue Devils player taken in the opening round since Mike Junkin in 1987.
Tomlinson spent his first two NFL seasons with Detroit, during which he played in 32 total games (24 starts) before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers in August 2017 in exchange for a future fifth-round pick. After not playing in the season opener, he suited up in 15 straight games for the Niners.
The 49ers did not pick up Tomlinson’s fifth-year option in 2018, but the two sides later agreed to a three-year, $18 million contract extension with $10 million guaranteed. He would later earn his first and only Pro Bowl selection to date for the 2021 season.
Upon completion of that deal, he would join the New York Jets, signing a three-year contract with the team in March 2022. But the Jets released him in February 2024, and he subsequently joined the Seattle Seahawks on a one-year deal that April.
In March 2025, Tomlinson signed with the Houston Texans. He earned the starting left guard job to begin the season and appeared in 10 games, making seven starts, before Houston released him in early December.
Tomlinson then joined the Baltimore Ravens‘ practice squad; he later signed with the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad earlier this month after left guard Tyler Smith underwent thumb surgery.
Former Lions First-Round Pick Lands With Division Rival