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Detroit Lions add Panthers center Cade Mays on 3-year deal
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- Detroit Lions add Panthers center Cade Mays on 3-year deal
The Detroit Lions have a new center.
The Lions reached agreement Monday, March 9, with former Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays on a three-year deal, a person familiar with the contract but not authorized to discuss it publicly because it's not yet signed, told the Free Press.
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The deal includes $14 million guaranteed and has a maximum value of $25 million, according to KPRC-TV in Houston .
Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays prepares to snap the ball against the Denver Broncos during the fourth quarter at Empower Field At Mile High on Oct. 27, 2024, in Denver.
Deals cannot become official until 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, but the Lions wasted no time filling one of their biggest needs at the start of the 2026 NFL free agent negotiating period Monday.
Mays, who turns 27 in April, started 12 games for the Panthers last season and has experience at guard.
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With the addition of Mays, the Lions should be able to keep Tate Ratledge at his preferred position of right guard. Lions coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have left open the possibility of moving Ratledge back to center, the position he practiced at after the Lions took him in the second round out of Georgia last spring.
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The Lions, who struggled at center last season after the retirement of Frank Ragnow , still have holes to fill on an offensive line that will have a different look to it next season.
Left tackle Taylor Decker asked for his release after he declined to take a pay cut from the tam, and the Lions cut veteran interior lineman Graham Glasgow last week .
Mays was considered one of the best centers headed for free agency, behind the Baltimore Ravens ' Tyler Linderbaum and the Buffalo Bills ' Connor McGovern . Linderbaum reached a record-setting three-year, $81 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, ESPN reported , while McGovern has agreed to return to the Bills.
The Lions lost two defensive starters early in free agency: linebacker Alex Anzalone to Tampa Bay and cornerback Amik Robertson to Washington .
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This is a developing story.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cade Mays is Detroit Lions' new center in NFL free agency 2026
