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Josh Paschal, who was expected to become a free agent this offseason, is surprisingly still under contract with the Lions through 2026 due to obscure tolling rules.
However, there are health concerns and curiosities that could have the Lions moving on from Paschal this offseason.
Here are excerpts from my story:
What raises eyebrows is that Paschal was placed on NFI (non football injury) as opposed to PUP (physically unable to perform). The placement on NFI allows the team to not pay the player’s salary - which could be detrimental to the relationship. It’s unknown if the Lions paid Paschal’s salary last season.
So why NFI? Any injury related to playing football or preparing the body for football (training, workouts, rehab) would be placed on PUP.
Placement on NFI would mean that a player’s injury was caused by something unrelated to football such as:
Technically, getting injured while doing personal training away from the facility could merit NFI, but a team would not do that to a player who is working out in good faith. The player would have to be doing some kind of training that was unapproved or reckless for the team to consider NFI.
When you look at the various reasons a player might be placed on NFI, you can see examples that might cause a rift with the team.
At this time, we don’t know the reason why Paschal was placed on NFI.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions injury analysis: Josh Paschal concerns, curiosities
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However, there are health concerns and curiosities that could have the Lions moving on from Paschal this offseason.
For the full analysis of Josh Paschal, Levi Onwuzurike:
Here are excerpts from my story:
Paschal injury history
- During the offseason in 2025, Paschal had back surgery and was placed on the NFI (non football injury) list. There have been no released details of the injury. The back issue prevented him from playing the entire season, although he did return to practice for about 3 weeks in November before being shut down.
- The back issue is not suspected to be related to his melanoma cancer from 2018 that he successfully beat.
- He will be 26 years old entering the 2026 season which is still young.
Curiosities of Paschal's back injury
What raises eyebrows is that Paschal was placed on NFI (non football injury) as opposed to PUP (physically unable to perform). The placement on NFI allows the team to not pay the player’s salary - which could be detrimental to the relationship. It’s unknown if the Lions paid Paschal’s salary last season.
So why NFI? Any injury related to playing football or preparing the body for football (training, workouts, rehab) would be placed on PUP.
Placement on NFI would mean that a player’s injury was caused by something unrelated to football such as:
- volleyball (Joe Fauria?)
- conch shells (Sam Martin?)
- volcano surfing (DeAndre Levy?)
- a medical illness like mono (Christian Mahogany)
- a car accident (Nate Burleson)
Technically, getting injured while doing personal training away from the facility could merit NFI, but a team would not do that to a player who is working out in good faith. The player would have to be doing some kind of training that was unapproved or reckless for the team to consider NFI.
When you look at the various reasons a player might be placed on NFI, you can see examples that might cause a rift with the team.
At this time, we don’t know the reason why Paschal was placed on NFI.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions injury analysis: Josh Paschal concerns, curiosities
Continue reading...
