Well, what’s the point in predicting 53-man rosters if a team is only going to keep 50?
That’s the odd reality facing Detroit Lions writers this week after the team made a handful of surprising moves. None of which were more surprising than the team cutting three more players than they had to by the 4 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline.
Let’s address that, and some other roster oddities, after the Lions’ 2025 initial cutdowns.
Lots of bubbles burst
Over at Pride of Detroit Direct, I claimed that the final five roster spots were going to be really tough to figure out, and I had 12 bubble players whose status would be hard to predict:
- WR Dominic Lovett
- WR Jackson Meeks
- G Netane Muti
- G/C Michael Niese
- EDGE Isaac Ukwu
- EDGE Nate Lynn
- DT Chris Smith
- DT Keith Cooper
- LB Anthony Pittman
- DB Erick Hallett
- S Loren Strickland
- S Ian Kennelly
I thought those 12 players were fighting for five roster spots. Technically, they were, but it turns out Detroit would only spend two on the group—one for Lovett, one for Smith. Three spots went to nobody. (Note: I also whiffed on Dan Skipper vs. Jamarco Jones.)
The important thing to remember here is that most of these players are expected to clear waivers. Of this group, only Muti and Pittman have more than two years in this league. Most of these players have only a few snaps at the NFL level. A claimed player has to join a 53-man roster. Think back to the final preseason game. Did any of these players unequivocally earn a spot on an NFL roster?
My guess is that of the 10 remaining bubble players who were cut, at least eight will return on the practice squad.
Well, there’s a pretty good chance the Lions have plans for those roster spots. Last year, Detroit cut down to 52 players, and after claiming Trevor Nowaske from waivers the next day, they were right back up to 53.
This seems a little bit more than that. For one, it’s hard to predict who will be on waivers—and it’s even harder to predict whether your waiver claim will be beaten out by someone with a higher priority. Additionally, three spots suggest that the Lions already have primary and backup plans for those roster spots. One additional possibility is that they already have an agreement in place with an unsigned or recently released veteran who was not subject to waivers.
Which, of course, leads to more talk about…
Za’Darius Smith is coming, right?
Not only do the Lions have three open roster spots, but they opted to keep only three defensive ends on the initial 53-man roster. While Detroit can make up for some of that by utilizing players like Pat O’Connor, Mekhi Wingo, and Derrick Barnes on the edge, it seems just as likely that a roster move at the position is coming.
Smith and Lions general manager Brad Holmes have been doing a bit of a tango this entire offseason. Smith has made it clear he wants to be back in Detroit. Holmes responded by essentially saying the ball is in his court.
It’s possible the Lions are thinking about a different edge player out there. Maybe Jadeveon Clowney or another player who was waived. But it has always made the most sense to just bring back Smith, where a re-acclimation period would be expedited after his time with the Lions last year.
When projecting the Lions roster, it seemed likely the Lions were going to use at least one of two IR-to-return designations between Trystan Colon, Ahmed Hassanein, and Morice Norris. The Lions opted not to use the designation on any of them.
I’m still figuring out how the Lions were able to cut Colon without any sort of injury designation or settlement. Perhaps he was medically cleared quicker than expected. Norris appears to have possibly made it through concussion protocol, so that’s less surprising.
The Hassanein waiving with an injury settlement was pretty stunning, to be honest. While I do think there’s a very good chance he’ll be back after the settlement is through (plus an additional three weeks), I don’t understand the risk in putting him out on waivers when the IR-to-return designation was right there.
My best guess is that the Lions simply didn’t want to burn one of their eight return from IR spots a team is given per season. Last year, the Lions used all eight, and coach Dan Campbell even admitted during training camp that last year’s injuries have caused him to look at the roster through a new lens.
“When you have a year like we did last year, you get affected a little bit by it,” Campbell said. “It has an effect on the way you think. Depth, depth, depth. We’ve got to make sure that we have the depth.”
If the team exhausts all their IR-return spots too quickly, it could cost them that depth down the line.
The UDFA streak is over
Credit to Dave Birkett for pointing this out, but Detroit’s 15-year streak of an undrafted rookie making the initial roster is over. While it seemed like there were plenty of candidates to make it this year—Jackson Meeks, Keith Cooper Jr., and Ian Kennelly, to name a few—by keeping just 50 players, the streak has effectively ended. I still expect those three to return to the practice if they clear waivers, but it’s the end of an era. Still, as Birkett points out, some roster maneuvering could keep the “rookie UDFA on the team’s Week 1 roster” streak alive. We’ll see.
Short at defensive back
Last year, the Lions kept 11 defensive backs on their initial 52-man roster. During the season, that number stayed between 10 and 11 for most weeks. However, Detroit’s initial roster only consists of eight players in the secondary.
On one hand, the Lions can afford that, given how versatile that group of players is. Rock Ya-Sin and Avonte Maddox can play pretty much any position in the secondary. Amik Robertson can play inside or outside corner. Brian Branch can drop down and play nickel, if need be.
Still, don’t be surprised if the Lions fortify that room by either bringing in another player or returning a waived player to the practice squad and elevating them for gameday.
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