HEADLINES

Detroit Lions News & Rumors

Colts, Texans, Browns Lead NFL In Cap Space

August 29th, 2019 at 8:50pm CST by Ben Levine

On Tuesday morning, the NFL released a report of every team’s cap space. The total number accounts for the top-51 cap numbers on every team’s roster. Therefore, these numbers will naturally change before next week as teams set their 53-man rosters (although the 52nd- and 53rd-ranked cap numbers (and beyond) for each team will hardly change anything).

It’s also worth noting that there have been a handful of extensions, trades, signings, and cuts since this report was released. However, there weren’t any significant moves that would drastically alter these rankings.

Why are these numbers important at this time of year? Well, rosters will be trimmed on Saturday, meaning an influx of players will hit the open market. While we can’t imagine any roster casualties earning a lucrative contract from a new team, these numbers can help illustrate the monetary advantage one organization has over another. These numbers are also useful in regards to any potential trades or extensions.

With help from TheMMQB.com’s Albert Breer on Twitter, we’ve listed the league’s cap space totals (as of Tuesday morning) below:

  1. Indianapolis Colts: $56.6MM
  2. Houston Texans: $37.0MM
  3. Cleveland Browns: $34.6MM
  4. Dallas Cowboys: $26.1MM
  5. Tennessee Titans: $26.0MM
  6. San Francisco 49ers: $25.5MM
  7. Buffalo Bills: $23.3MM
  8. Miami Dolphins: $22.1MM
  9. Chicago Bears: $22.1MM
  10. Washington Redskins: $21.7MM
  11. Detroit Lions: $21.5MM
  12. Kansas City Chiefs: $21MM
  13. Cincinnati Bengals: $19.7MM
  14. Seattle Seahawks: $19.5MM
  15. Philadelphia Eagles: $18.6MM
  16. Jacksonville Jaguars: $18.2MM
  17. Oakland Raiders: $17.3MM
  18. Los Angeles Chargers: $16.4MM
  19. Green Bay Packers: $15.2MM
  20. New York Jets: $14.9MM
  21. New England Patriots: $14.1MM
  22. Baltimore Ravens: $13.4MM
  23. New Orleans Saints $7.5MM
  24. Carolina Panthers $5.9MM
  25. Los Angeles Rams $5.6MM
  26. New York Giants $5.5MM
  27. Pittsburgh Steelers $4.9MM
  28. Minnesota Vikings $4.7MM
  29. Arizona Cardinals $4.7MM
  30. Denver Broncos $4.4MM
  31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers $4.3MM
  32. Atlanta Falcons $3.4MM

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/19

August 28th, 2019 at 4:36pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s roster shuffling here as teams gear up for major cuts at the end of the week:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

  • Signed: RB James Williams

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

  • Waived: TE Cole Wick
  • Waive/injured: OLB Josh Smith

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: T Will Holden, DE Logan Tago
  • Waived: DT Jay-Tee Tiuli

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/27/19

August 27th, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by Zachary Links

It was a busy day in the NFL as teams made early cuts in advance of the 53-man deadline. We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: OL Jacob Ohnesorge

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Lions Release RB Zach Zenner

August 27th, 2019 at 3:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have released veteran running back Zach Zenner, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). By releasing Zenner, the Lions will save the bulk of his scheduled one-year, $805K salary, though they’ll be in the hole for the $250K guarantee on his deal. 

Zenner enjoyed the best season of his career in 2016 when he ran for 334 yards and four touchdowns off of 88 carries. He also added 18 catches for 196 yards. All of those numbers stand as career highs for the former UDFA out of South Dakota State.

Last year, Zenner played a much smaller role with 55 carries for 265 yards and three touchdowns. However, his yards per carry average of 4.8 yards per tote was strong and represents a career high (albeit, one with a limited sample size).

The Lions will use Kerryon Johnson as their main running back with C.J. Anderson and Ty Johnson in support. Running backs Mark Thompson and Justin Stockton are also on the roster, for now.

Before he re-upped with Detroit earlier this year, the Vikings expressed interest in the Eagan, Minn., native, so that’s one potential landing spot to watch.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/26/19

August 26th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Jarrad Davis Has High Ankle Sprain

August 24th, 2019 at 5:32pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Lions have officially dodged another bullet. After it originally appeared they might have lost two starters for the season, they’ve now got another dose of good news.

Starting linebacker Jarrad Davis is dealing with a high ankle sprain, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). We had already heard earlier today that starting center Frank Ragnow was only dealing with a minor ankle sprain. While a high ankle sprain is certainly nothing too minor, it’s definitely better than initially expected, and Rapoport writes that “the word is he’s already feeling better and it’s a long way from what many thought last night.”

That being said, Rapoport notes that Davis will still miss some regular season time. Depending on how quickly it heals, it looks like Davis will likely miss at least the first month or so of the season. It’ll be a pretty big blow to the Lions for their first handful of games, as Davis is one of their most critical players.

Drafted in the first round out of Florida back in 2017, Davis has started all 30 games that he’s appeared in over the last two seasons. Last year, he had 100 tackles and six sacks while playing 99 percent of the defensive snaps. Davis easily played the most snaps on the team last season and since Detroit’s linebacking corp is already pretty thin, they’ll be feeling his absence big time. The Lions open the season at Arizona, and they’ll be doing it without their emerging stud.

Lions Not Planning IR Trip For Davis

August 24th, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • More good news on the injury front. Matt Patricia said (via the Detroit News’ Justin Rogers, on Twitter) he is not considering an IR trip for Jarrad Davis, who was carted to the Lions‘ locker room Friday night. Davis suffered a lower-leg injury against the Bills. Were Davis to be placed on IR in between next weekend and Week 1, he would miss at least eight regular-season weeks. This points to the Lions expecting him back during the first half of the season, at the latest.
  • Frank Ragnow, too, appears to have dodged a bullet. The Lions center suffered what’s being categorized as a minor ankle sprain Friday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The Lions are typically vague regarding injuries, with Patricia declining to elaborate on the nature of those suffered by Ragnow and Davis. But the second-year coach said (via Rogers) neither player is believed to have suffered a season-nullifying malady.

Lions C Frank Ragnow Carted Off Field

August 24th, 2019 at 12:44pm CST by Ben Levine
  • Lions center Frank Ragnow was carted off the field after suffering a right leg injury during last night’s loss to the Bills. If the 2018 first-round pick has to miss time, Detroit’s offensive line situation will be bleak. As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets, the team currently has journeyman Kenny Wiggins and former fifth-rounder Joe Dahl slotted in at offensive guard. The team was originally counting on Wiggins to be their top backup offensive tackle with Tyrell Crosby out of the lineup.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Lions LB Jarrad Davis To Undergo MRI

August 23rd, 2019 at 8:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

These past two days have not provided a strong endorsement for preseason football, with a game being played on an 80-yard field and several key players going down. The Lions saw multiple starters suffer injuries on Friday night and may have lost Jarrad Davis for an extended time period.

After being helped off the field after the second play of Detroit’s game against Buffalo, the third-year linebacker will undergo an MRI on his right foot Saturday, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com notes. Davis left for the Lions’ locker room on a cart.

This strikes former Chargers team doctor David Chao as a significant injury, with the current San Diego Union-Tribune injury expert estimating the best-case scenario for Davis may be a high ankle sprain (Twitter link).

Davis has started all 30 games he has played for the Lions, who took him in the 2017 first round. The Florida product registered 100 tackles and six sacks last season.

Lions Extend DT Damon Harrison

August 21st, 2019 at 6:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Lions have reached agreement on a one-year contract extension with defensive tackle Damon Harrison, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The extra year will keep him under contract with Detroit through 2021 and is worth $11MM. Harrison will collect $12MM guaranteed from 2019-2020, per Schefter.

Harrison, 30, had been asking the Lions for a new contract since at least March, and Detroit seemed open to the idea from the start. “Snacks” skipped all non-mandatory Detroit practice sessions during the summer, but showed up for training camp at the end of July and was activated off the non-football injury list last week.

NFL players rarely earn (or even seek) extensions with two years remaining on their current deals, but Harrison is an immensely valuable part of the Lions defense. Detroit acquired Harrison from the Giants at the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for a fifth-round pick, and he started 10 games for the Lions down the stretch.

Harrison posted 50 and 3.5 sacks for the Lions while grading as the NFL’s third-best interior defender behind only Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox, per Pro Football Focus. PFF ranked Harrison as the league’s single-best run-stopping defensive tackle, and as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, Harrison has led the all NFL interior defenders in tackles in each of the past four seasons.

Harrison was scheduled to earn $6.75MM and $9MM in 2019 and 2020, respectively. At present, it’s unclear how or if the Lions will adjust those amounts, simply give Harrison a signing bonus, or use some other financial method to reward the veteran defensive tackle.

Load More Posts