Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Detroit Lions went just 9-8 in 2025 and finished in fourth place in the NFC North. After making it to the NFC Championship Game in 2023 and the divisional round in 2024, they completely missed out on the playoffs.
While the offense was among the best in the NFL, tied for fourth in points per game (28.3), the unit has recently undergone a major change. On Monday's ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Lions have traded running back David Montgomery to the Houston Texans.
In exchange, Detroit is receiving a fourth-round pick, a seventh-round pick and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs.
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Montgomery originally started his NFL career as a third-round pick for the Chicago Bears. However, this was his third season with the Lions after signing with them as a free agent in 2023.
After news broke of the trade, St. Brown took to social media to share his immediate reaction. While reposting the NFL's announcement of the trade on his Instagram story, the wide receiver simply added a broken heart emoji.
In his time with the Lions, Montgomery appeared in 45 games and made 28 starts. He was effective, rushing the ball 562 times for 2,506 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also hauled in 76 receptions for 650 yards. However, he was consistently used as the Lions' No. 2 option behind Jahmyr Gibbs.
St. Brown has always been one of Montgomery's biggest supporters. While having the running back on his podcast, St. Brown said, "Most underrated player in the league, I’m telling you, you heard it from me first... The man’s a dog, he’s not a power back, he does it all."
While Montgomery will now prepare for the next chapter of his NFL career, it's clear that St. Brown has felt the weight of losing a close friend and big piece to the Lions' offensive success.