According to a report from Justin Rogers, the Detroit Lions thought they had pulled off a sneaky-good move when they brought back Levi Onwuzurike on a one-year deal after his breakout 2024 season. Unfortunately, that plan unraveled quickly when lingering knee issues turned into a full-blown ACL injury, ending his season before training camp even got rolling.

What looked like a clean one-year gamble suddenly felt like a loss, until the fine print of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement stepped in.

Because Onwuzurike was placed on the Nonfootball Injury (NFI) list while in the final year of his contract, his deal will officially toll, meaning it rolls forward to the 2026 season. A team source confirmed that Detroit will retain control of Onwuzurike under the same contract terms next year.

That’s a big deal for a player who finally put it all together in 2024.

After battling a serious back injury early in his career — including a lumbar fusion that wiped out his entire 2022 season — Onwuzurike finally stayed healthy last year. He appeared in 16 games, made 10 starts, logged 635 snaps, and consistently disrupted quarterbacks, finishing with 28 tackles and 45 pressures.

Detroit clearly believed more was coming, which is why the team re-signed him to a one-year, $4 million deal that could have reached $5.5 million with incentives. Instead, the ACL injury shut everything down before Week 1.

Now, thanks to the tolling provision, the Lions essentially get a reset. Onwuzurike remains under contract for 2026 with a fully guaranteed $1.5 million base salary and up to $500,000 in per-game bonuses, giving Detroit another chance to see if his 2024 breakout was just the beginning.

It’s not how anyone wanted it to play out — but for the Lions, it quietly keeps a high-upside defensive lineman in the building for another year.

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