ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions are moving Penei Sewell to left tackle in 2026 after releasing longtime starter Taylor Decker this offseason. The team will fill Sewell’s former right tackle position with either 2026 first-round draft pick Blake Miller out of Clemson or newly acquired veteran Larry Borom.

Sewell began his NFL career at left tackle, starting the first eight games of the 2021 season there as a 20-year-old—the youngest left tackle to start an NFL game. The Lions shifted him to right tackle midway through his rookie year, where he remained for more than four seasons, aside from a brief return to left tackle during the 2023 season when Decker was injured.

Decker, who had announced plans to return instead of retiring, requested his release during the offseason, ending a 10-year tenure as the team’s starting left tackle. With the position open, the Lions opted to move Sewell back to his original spot.

“Good. He's over there. He's been working it. Even being back home before we started the offseason once they gave him the word. It’ll be like riding a bike for him. Will there be things he’ll have to learn? Yeah, of course there will be. But, I mean, he has played left. That’s muscle memory. He played a lot of left in college and for us in '21 those first few games. And he still took reps at left even over the last five years. So, that'll be seamless. Sewell can do it all,” head coach Dan Campbell said.

Sewell acknowledged the physical adjustments required for the switch. “When you switch, you have a different leg up front. So you have to push off a different leg every time. You have to train this leg that’s been back the whole time and catching to now pushing.”

Lions assistant general manager Ray Agnew praised Sewell’s consistent performance since being drafted seventh overall in 2021. “We expected great things from him from the beginning, and he’s done nothing to disprove that. I think he’s one of the best that ever did it.”

Sewell has started 83 regular-season games and four playoff contests in five years. He is one of only five players in NFL history to earn All-Pro honors three times and be selected to the Pro Bowl four times within their first five seasons, joining Anthony Munoz, Tony Boselli, Joe Thomas, and Jim Parker. He is currently in the first year of a four-year, $112 million contract.