The Detroit Tigers have signed franchise legend Justin Verlander to a one-year free agent contract for the upcoming 2026 season. The club announced the move on Tuesday. The deal is for $13 million with $11 million of the total commitment being deferred, FanSided reports.
Verlander, who turns 43 on Feb. 20, is coming off a 2025 season for the Giants in which he pitched to a 3.85 ERA (103 ERA+) with an identical FIP of 3.85 across 29 starts and 152 innings. This pact reunites Verlander with the team that first drafted him out of Old Dominion with the No. 2 overall pick in 2004. Verlander went on to spend the first 12-plus seasons of his MLB career in a Detroit uniform. Over that span, he won 183 games and put up a WAR of 56.6 in a Tigers uniform. In 2011, Verlander as a Tiger won the American League Cy Young and MVP honors. With Verlander in tow, the Tigers made it to five postseasons and won the pennant during Verlander’s rookie season of 2006.
Verlander’s time with the Tigers came to an end during the 2017 season, when he was traded to the Astros. Verlander in the years to come won two additional Cy Young awards with Houston. A future Hall of Famer, Verlander will enter the upcoming season with a career WAR of 82.2; 266 wins; and 3,553 strikeouts.
Back with the Tigers, Verlander figures to be part of the contending rotation that’s fronted by back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and notable free-agent addition Framber Valdez. The Tigers in 2026 will be angling to make the postseason for a third straight year, and Verlander will help stabilize a rotation that also includes Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize. Starter Reese Olson will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing shoulder surgery earlier this month, the Tigers announced Tuesday.
Verlander returns to Detroit with 2,373 strikeouts as a Tiger, which puts him 307 behind Mickey Lolich for the most in franchise history.