Five players with ties to the Detroit Lions will be participating in Super Bowl LX, featuring the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks—a rematch of their 2015 Super Bowl XLIX showdown.

Although the Lions began the 2025 season with high expectations, they didn’t make it to the championship game. Still, several former Lions will appear in the Super Bowl for the first time in their careers. On the Patriots’ roster, these include cornerback Carlton Davis III, quarterback Joshua Dobbs, linebacker Jahlani Tavai, and running back Craig Reynolds, who is on the practice squad.

Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss, from Rochester Hills, Michigan, also has a Detroit connection, though he never played for the Lions. His father, Luther Elliss, spent nine of his ten NFL seasons with Detroit, earning two Pro Bowl selections (1999 and 2000) as a cornerstone of the Lions’ defense.

The Seahawks’ link to Detroit comes through safety Quandre Diggs. A three-time Pro Bowler, Diggs is 33 and on Seattle’s practice squad. He spent the first five years of his 11-year NFL career with the Lions after being drafted in the sixth round in 2015 out of Texas and remains a fan favorite in Detroit.

Among all the former Lions making it to the Super Bowl, Davis and Reynolds had the most recent stints in Detroit. Davis was acquired in a trade from the Buccaneers during the 2024 offseason and, despite injuries, played a significant role in the Lions’ secondary. He recorded 56 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 11 passes defended, and 2 interceptions. After Detroit’s playoff loss to Washington in the Divisional Round, Davis signed a three-year, $60 million contract with the Patriots.

Reynolds’ path was different. Since 2021, he had been the Lions’ primary third running back, supporting backs such as D’Andre Swift, Jamaal Williams, David Montgomery, and Jahmyr Gibbs. He is remembered for a key block that set up an Amon-Ra St. Brown touchdown in a 2023 game versus Tampa Bay. Nicknamed “Netflix” in the locker room, Reynolds was well-liked but was released just before the Thanksgiving game against Green Bay. Rather than returning to Detroit, Reynolds joined the Patriots’ practice squad soon afterward.

Tavai, a 2019 second-round draft pick for the Lions, struggled to find his footing under coach Matt Patricia. He was cut after the 2021 training camp, which was Dan Campbell’s first season as head coach, before eventually reuniting with Patricia in New England under Bill Belichick.

Dobbs had a brief stint with the Lions in December 2022, joining the practice squad after being released by Cleveland. He stayed in Detroit for just over two weeks before the Titans added him to their active roster following an injury to Ryan Tannehill.