Lions coach Dan Campbell believes the offensive line got better—not worse—in free agency.

This offseason, the Detroit Lions had to make a tough decision regarding starting left guard Jonah Jackson. Coming off his rookie deal, Jackson was in line to score a big free agent deal, and with the Lions already paying premium prices for Taylor Decker and Frank Ragnow—and with an extension for All-Pro Penei Sewell on the horizon—Detroit ultimately decided to move on. Jackson, indeed, scored a huge contract, inking a three-year, $51 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams.

But despite letting Jackson go, Lions coach Dan Campbell actually believes the team’s offensive line took a step forward this offseason. But that’s not meant to be a dig at Jackson, because Campbell is clearly excited about the addition of veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler in free agency.

“You’re going to be hard-pressed to find a guy who has played as long as he has and been as consistent and as durable as he’s been,” Campbell said at the owners meetings on Tuesday morning. “He’ll be, between Frank and Penei, he’ll be a steady force in there, a consistent force.”

The Lions signed Zeitler to a one-year, $6 million deal last week. Detroit was surprised to even see Zeitler still available into the second week of free agency—but it was a pleasant surprise.

“We thought he was going to be gone early,” Campbell said. “We liked him from the get-go. It didn’t work out with Jonah, but Zeitler was the guy if (Jonah left). So we just kind of talked to him from the get-go, stayed in touch, and we were able to make it work out.”

The Lions offensive line has a strong reputation to live up to in 2024. Last year, the Lions had one of the most effective run games in the NFL, allowed the fourth-fewest sacks, and finished as PFF’s second-best offensive line in football. But with Zeitler’s experience, and Graham Glasgow’s re-signing (and confirmed to be playing the left side now), it’s quite possible that Detroit’s offensive line—despite losing a former Pro Bowler in Jackson—could be even better in 2024.

“We just became a really veteran group, a very smart, consistent group, in my mind, especially getting Graham back,” Campbell said. “Then we’ve got Decker over there at left tackle. I feel like we have not stepped back as an o-line, we’ve probably taken a step forward. That’s exciting.”