Detroit Lions offensive lineman Graham Glasgow has spent his entire college and professional football career playing in the state of Michigan.
The soon-to-be free agent, however, feels his time playing in the Mitten is coming to an end.
"I'm bummed that I'm not able to stay cause I love Michigan and I love the Detroit area, Ann Arbor," Glasgow told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press this week. "I've been here for almost about a decade now and it's awesome and I really, really like the guys in the locker room and I think we have a good team and a good group of guys. So in that regard, it sucks. But you don't play football forever, so I think that being able to go somewhere else and make some money is an exciting thing."
The University of Michigan product was selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by the Lions. Since then, he's become a versatile, consistent blocker despite shuffling around the line.
Glasgow started 11 games as a rookie playing both center and left guard. He continued to bounce back and forth in 16 starts in his second season. In 2018, he played center full-time and allowed just one sack. Last season, the Lions needed Glasgow to slide over to right guard. He did so with aplomb, allowing zero sacks, per Pro Football Focus.
The 27-year-old knows his versatility could get him paid on the open market.
"That's something that worked out well for me," Glasgow said. "I can play both (guard and center), I can play both well, so that's just something that works out to where it's not like I want to play one more than the other. I think that it just comes down to seeing who wants me to play where for what, at what position, and I think that that's just everything is going to come into account that way."
It's odd that the Lions have shown subtle disinterest toward Glasgow -- at least to the point where the player is comfortable about discussing the idea of moving on. Good teams don't let solid home-grown talent walk without a fight.
In a league ever in need of offensive line help, Glasgow knows this offseason is his best bet to get paid. The versatile O-lineman is one of the top free-agent blockers available. With a dearth of top-shelf interior linemen in the 2020 NFL Draft, it could be a position that teams pay a premium in free agency to fill.
