{"id":271624,"date":"2026-04-01T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=271624"},"modified":"2026-04-01T07:15:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:15:24","slug":"detroit-lions-make-same-awful-mistake-with-another-team-icon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/01\/detroit-lions-make-same-awful-mistake-with-another-team-icon\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lions Make Same Awful Mistake With Another Team Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Lions can\u2019t seem to help themselves. No matter how much bad blood the team created with franchise legends Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, history has repeated itself once more. It has surfaced that the Lions have forced Frank Ragnow to repay part of his signing bonus<\/a> after his sudden retirement before the 2025 season. Apparently, outgoing team President Rod Wood couldn\u2019t resist one last chance to live up to his reputation as \u201ccheap\u201d and \u201cpetty.\u201d<\/a> It\u2019s almost unfathomable watching the Detroit Lions make the same awful mistake with another team icon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rod Wood Hurting The Lions Before Retiring<\/span><\/h2>\n

Wood has already announced he will be retiring before the 2026 season. Unfortunately, his latest decision as President and CEO will hurt the Lions long after he is gone. Sure, he can evoke \u201cprecedent,\u201d but that certainly won\u2019t help Detroit\u2019s reputation moving forward. That \u201cprecedent\u201d caused the Lions\u2019 two best players in history, Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, to stay away from the team after each retired.<\/span><\/p>\n

While those wounds were mended over time,<\/a> Wood somehow decided it was a good idea to do it again. That decision will not only create fresh wounds, but re-open ones that took so long to heal.<\/a> It\u2019s a baffling stance for a team to take. Yet another misstep for a franchise trying so hard to remove itself from almost 70 years of futility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The criticism from NFL circles has been overwhelming. Former Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 star center Jason Kelce, who is the only center who could reasonably be thought to have been better than Ragnow<\/a> during their playing days, didn\u2019t mince words.<\/a> Alex Anzalone, himself having just left the Lions under difficult circumstances, also expressed his dismay.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having the entire NFL world lining up to speak against this choice shows how egregious it is. The Lions, under Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes, have worked hard to remove the stigma of the team\u2019s past. Since 2021, the HC and GM tandem have forged a new culture, one of \u201cgrit\u201d and treating each member of the organization like family. Taking back money from Ragnow twists a knife deep into that culture. It will be difficult for the Lions to overcome this identity of both penny-pinching and failing to do what’s right by their own franchise legends. It\u2019s sad that so much good can be so easily thrown out the window.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frank Ragnow\u2019s Legacy<\/span><\/h2>\n

Frank Ragnow forged a legacy of warrior toughness and putting the team first. Some people call off from work with a cough. In 2021, Ragnow played through a fractured throat.<\/a> Even a torn pectoral muscle in 2024<\/a> couldn\u2019t keep the All-Pro on the sidelines. Ragnow also powered through a chronic, inoperable toe issue<\/a> during the last couple of seasons of his career. Throw in the knee, back, and ankle injuries he also played with, and Ragnow proved himself one of the toughest, selfless players to ever put on the Honolulu Blue and silver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That myriad of injuries finally caught up to Ragnow and forced him to step away before last season at age 29. Ragnow gave everything he had to the Lions during his prolific 7-year career. Hell, even with his broken body, Ragnow attempted a comeback towards the end of 2025 when the team was free-falling out of playoff contention. His comeback was thwarted due to a failed physical.<\/a> Even though he was still injured, Ragnow was willing to make another sacrifice for the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frank Ragnow Deserved Better from the Lions<\/h3>\n

This is the man Rod Wood demanded repayment from? What a joke. Make no mistake, Frank Ragnow deserved better from the Lions. Ragnow\u2019s signing bonus was $6 million for his last contract, a four-year extension signed in 2021. The remaining, prorated amount of his signing bonus, the amount Ragnow is expected to have repaid, was $3 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say $3 million is a paltry amount of money for an NFL franchise. Yet, Rod Wood felt that amount is worth burning another bridge with another former Lion. Wood amazingly thinks $3 million is enough to cause irreparable harm to Detroit\u2019s reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frank Ragnow\u2019s legacy has long been solidified with Lions fans. For seven years, Ragnow gave his all on the field, no matter the cost to his body. For the rest of his life, Ragnow will constantly deal with the effects of an NFL career. That was always inevitable, yet Ragnow remained steadfast in his commitment to the team. Rod Wood treating him like this is unforgivable. Wood is leaving, so luckily for him, he won\u2019t have to deal with the consequences of his actions. The Detroit Lions, on the other hand, most definitely will.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frank Ragnow\u2019s career with the Lions was nothing short of great. His legacy is secure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Rod Wood\u2019s legacy is now secure as well.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team President Rod Wood made Frank Ragnow repay some of his signing bonus. The Lions did the same to Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5722,"featured_media":271672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,54,6431],"tags":[3899,34378],"class_list":["post-271624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lions","category-editorials","category-nfl-teams","tag-frank-ragnow","tag-rod-wood"],"modified_by":"Sue Levine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5722"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271624"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271674,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271624\/revisions\/271674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}