The Minnesota Vikings are getting ready for the 2026 season, and residing in the NFC North, they can use any advantage they can get. The NFC North was the only division in the NFL where all four teams finished with a winning record last season, and the Vikings narrowly escaped a last-place finish by beating the Detroit Lions last Christmas.
After the rest of the division reloaded this past offseason, the North will be tight again this season. But the Vikings may have gained an early advantage after ESPN’s Eric Woodyard reported that Lions center Cade Mays will be out for 8-10 weeks after fracturing a small bone in his wrist during a recent training camp practice.
Cade Mays’s injury gives the Minnesota Vikings an early edge over the Detroit Lions
Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed the injury on Monday but did not offer an exact timeline for his return. While Detroit hopes to get Mays back by midseason and Campbell joked that he would “be ready for the playoffs,” no team in the division can guarantee they will be there based on last season’s results.
It’s why this is a significant development for the Vikings hopes and could make their quest to climb the standings a little easier this fall.
The Vikings won’t face the Lions until a trip to Ford Field on Nov. 1, but Mays’s injury still is significant. The Lions had a revolving door at the center position after Frank Ragnow retired last June and while Graham Glasgow filled in, he dealt with multiple injuries that led to Ragnow pursuing a comeback midway through the 2025 campaign.
The attempt was halted when Ragnow suffered a Grade 3 hamstring strain while preparing to return to the field. The Lions also resisted the urge to move rookie guard Tate Ratledge to center and filled the void by signing Mays this offseason.
A four-year veteran with the Carolina Panthers, Mays saw his snap count increase to a career-high 726 offensive snaps last season and performed well, allowing 11 pressures and no sacks on 399 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Detroit also acquired Juice Scruggs from the Houston Texans in the David Montgomery trade to add depth at the position, but the former second-round pick struggled in his previous stint as a starting center in 2023, allowing 22 pressures and five sacks on 511 pass-blocking snaps.
Vikings fans know how significant it is to have a hole in the middle of their offensive line as Ryan Kelly suffered multiple concussions last season and Garrett Bradbury would be thrown around like a cruiserweight at times during his tenure with the team. But it also could give them the advantage they need in 2026.
Vikings’ young defensive line could exploit Lions’ interior concerns
The late matchups with the Lions mean the Vikings will likely see Mays at some point this season. But there’s a good chance he could be rounding into shape by the time the two teams meet in November.
A young interior defensive line that includes Jalen Redmond and rookies Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange can also benefit from that as well as a Lions interior that has questions after left guard Christian Mahogany struggled with performance and injury in his first year as a starter and Ratledge had some growing pains as a second-round pick entering the NFL.
While the Lions have the 6th-easiest schedule in the NFL, they also open against an upstart New Orleans Saints team on Sept. 13, travel to the Buffalo Bills to open Highmark Stadium on Sept. 17, and host the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 25.
As was evident last year, one or two losses could have you in last place in the division, and it adds to the Lions' troubles as a team that also lost Isiah Pacheco due to an MCL injury.
If the Lions' offensive line shuffling continues, it could be ripe for any opposing pass rush, even with Penei Sewell moving over to left tackle after Taylor Decker’s release this spring. It’s another thing Detroit will have to overcome to contend this season and could open the door for the Vikings to keep their advantage after beating them twice last year.
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