The Detroit Lions are losing one of their young offensive linemen, as the Cleveland Browns have signed center Kingsley Eguakun off the Lions’ practice squad.
The Lions signed Eguakun as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and developed him on their practice squad during his rookie season. He progressed far enough to make the Lions’ initial roster in 2025, but was eventually released and re-signed to the practice squad. However, with injuries on the offensive line, Eguakun was elevated from the practice squad for depth in Week 13, then earned consecutive starts at center in Week 16 and 17.
Eguakun has long been considered a player that the Lions believed had starting potential, and he had earned recent starts over veterans like Trystan Colon and Michael Niese when Graham Glasgow was injured.
With Eguakun using up all three of his roster elevations for the 2025 season, many (myself included) believed the young center would be signed to the active roster this week. However, when the Browns presented Eguakun with an offer to sign onto their 53-man roster, things got a bit more complicated.
Typically, when a player on the practice squad receives an offer to sign with another team, that player allows his current team an opportunity to match the offer and sign them to their active roster. In this case, the Lions either elected not to match the offer, or Eguakun decided a change of scenery was in his best interest and opted to join the Browns.
Regardless of how it happened, the Lions will enter Week 18 and the offseason without the player they’ve leaned on as their backup center. For the final game of the season, the Lions have plenty of options to get by. But as far as the Lions’ future, this likely creates another hole on their offensive line.
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