Lions Announce Roster Cuts
In addition to trading offensive tackle Corey Robinson to the Panthers, the Lions have also reduced their roster to 53 players.
Released:
- LB Jonathan Freeny
- C Wesley Johnson
- TE Sean McGrath
- CB DeShawn Shead
Waived:
- DE Alex Barrett
- WR Jace Billingsley
- LB Freddie Bishop
- WR Dontez Ford
- CB Mike Ford
- CB Chris Jones
- WR Chris Lacy
- DT Jeremiah Ledbetter
- S Rolan Milligan
- QB Jake Rudock
- LB Darnell Sankey
- P Ryan Santoso
- T Dan Skipper
- RB Dwayne Washington
Placed on injured reserve:
- RB Zach Zenner
Placed on PUP:
- WR Andy Jones
Waived from injured reserve:
- DT Toby Johnson
With Rudock out of the picture, Matt Cassel will serve as the backup to quarterback Matthew Stafford. Freeny conceivably could have made the roster based on his familiarity with head coach Matt Patricia, but the Lions went in another direction.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/1/18
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
Baltimore Ravens
- QB Josh Woodrum
- RB John Crockett
- FB Ricky Ortiz
- OT Steven Moore
Buffalo Bills
- WR Rod Streater
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
- LB Carl Bradford
- K Jon Brown
- LB Connor Harris
- OT Javarius Leamon
- OG Oni Omoile
- TE Scott Orndoff
- CB Sojourn Shelton
- SS Robenson Therezie
- WR Kermit Whitfield
Cleveland Browns
- WR C.J. Board
- LB Austin Calitro
- DB Trevon Hartfield
- WR Bug Howard
- RB Josh Rounds
- OL Victor Salako
- DB B.W. Webb
- WR Kasen Williams
Denver Broncos
- DT Paul Boyette
- WR River Cracraft
- WR Jordan Leslie
- DE Stansly Maponga
- DB Jordan Moore
- TE Brian Parker
- WR Tim Patrick
- OT Jeremiah Poutasi
- LB Marcus Rush
- DE Jhaustin Thomas
Detroit Lions
- CB Adairius Barnes
- TE Brandon Barnes
- DE Alex Barrett
- WR Dontez Ford
- DT Toby Johnson
- C Leo Koloamatangi
- S Rolan Milligan
- T Dan Skipper
- QB Alek Torgersen
- DE Jeremiah Valoaga
Indianapolis Colts
- TE Mo Alie-Cox
- WR Dres Anderson
- DT Johnathan Calvin
- WR Kolby Listenbee
- LB Arthur Miley
- LB Josh Perry
- QB Phillip Walker
- G Isaiah Williams
New York Giants
- OL Ethan Cooper
- WR Amba Etta-Tawo
- K Marshall Koehn
- DB Jeremiah McKinnon
- P Austin Rehkow
- DB Tim Scott
- WR Canaan Severin
- DT Kristjan Sokoli
- DE Jordan Williams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR Jake Lampman
Washington Redskins
- OL Alex Balducci
- DL Tavaris Barnes
- TE Chris Bazile
- RB Kenny Hilliard
- OL Cameron Jefferson
- OL John Kling
- LB Alex McCalister
- LB Cassanova McKinzy
- DL Ondre Pipkins
- DB James Sample
- S Orion Stewart
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/6/17
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: QB Trevor Knight
- Cut: DT Taniela Tupou
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DB Channing Stribling
Detroit Lions
- Cut: TE Cole Wick
- Placed On IR: WR Dontez Ford
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: CB Taurean Nixon
Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Chicago Bears
- Claimed:
- LS Andrew DePaola
- WR Tre McBride
- RB Taquan Mizzell
- Cut:
- TE Ben Braunecker
- RB Jeremy Langford
- LS Jeff Overbaugh
Detroit Lions
- Claimed:
- G Zac Kerin
- T Brian Mihalik
- Cut:
- T Cornelius Lucas
- G Brandon Thomas
- Signed to practice squad:
- LB Thurston Armbrister
- CB Adairius Barnes
- WR Jace Billingsley
- WR Dontez Ford
- C Leo Koloamatangi
- DT Derrick Lott
- S Rolan Milligan
- T Storm Norton
- DE Pat O’Connor
- TE Cole Wick
Green Bay Packers
- Claimed:
- DE Chris Odom
- Placed on IR:
- OL Don Barclay
- Signed to practice squad:
- G Kofi Amichia
- CB Donatello Brown
- QB Joe Callahan
- WR Michael Clark
- LB Reggie Gilbert
- DT Izaah Lunsford
- LB Derrick Mathews
- G/T Adam Pankey
- S Jermaine Whitehead
- WR DeAngelo Yancey
Minnesota Vikings
- Claimed:
- TE Blake Bell
- Waived/injured:
- TE Bucky Hodges
- Signed to practice squad:
- DT Dylan Bradley
- TE Kyle Carter
- RB Bronson Hill
- WR Cayleb Jones
- LB Elijah Lee
- DE Ifeadi Odenigbo
- CB Horace Richardson
- QB Kyle Sloter
Lions Set 53-Man Roster
The Lions have met the NFL’s 53-man maximum requirement by making the following transactions:
Traded:
- CB Johnson Bademosi (story)
Released:
Waived:
- LB Thurston Armbrister
- CB Adairius Barnes
- WR Jace Billingsley
- S Alex Carter
- DT Ego Ferguson
- WR Dontez Ford
- QB Brad Kaaya (story)
- C Leo Koloamatangi
- TE Khari Lee
- DT Derrick Lott
- DT Caushaud Lyons
- S Rolan Milligan
- T Storm Norton
- DE Pat O’Connor
- TE Scott Orndoff
- WR Michael Rector
- WR Noel Thomas
- CB Josh Thornton
- TE Robert Tonyan
- TE Cole Wick
- LB Antwione Williams (story)
Suspended:
- DE Armonty Bryant
- DT Khyri Thornton
Placed on non-football injury list:
Placed physically unable to perform list:
Lions Sign LB Jarrad Davis
The Lions announced that they have signed eight of their nine draft picks, plus 14 undrafted free agents. The complete list:
Draft Signings:
- 1-21: Jarrad Davis, LB (Florida)
- 2-53: Teez Tabor, CB (Florida)
- 4-124: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, Tennessee
- 4-127: Michael Roberts, TE (Toledo)
- 5-165: Jamal Agnew, DB (San Diego)
- 6-205: Jeremiah Ledbetter, DT (Arkansas)
- 6-215: Brad Kaaya, QB (Miami)
- 7-250: Pat O’Connor, DE (Eastern Michigan)
UDFAs:
- Brandon Barnes, TE (Alabama State)
- Alex Barrett, DE (San Diego State)
- Dontez Ford, WR (Pittsburgh)
- Tion Green, RB (Cincinnati)
- Nick James, DT (Mississippi State)
- Leo Koloamatangi, OL (Hawaii)
- Desmond Lawrence, CB (North Carolina)
- Storm Norton, OT (Toledo)
- Michael Rector, WR (Stanford)
- Maurice Swain, DT (Auburn)
- Noel Thomas, WR (UConn)
- Josh Thornton, CB (Southern Utah)
- Robert Tonyan, TE (Indiana State)
- Jeremiah Valoaga, DE (UNLV)
As far as draft picks go, Northern Illinois wide receiver Kenny Golladay is the only player that has yet to put pen to paper. The reason for the delay is not known, but third round picks often take longer to sign than other picks as things are less rigid in those slots.
Davis was said to be a target of the Dolphins at No. 22, so it’s a good thing that the Lions were up at No. 21. Davis impressed scouts at his Pro Day when he posted a 4.56 40-yard dash and 38.5 inch vertical jump. As shown on Roster Resource, Davis may be in for a starting role in 2017.
Tabor fell to the Lions at No. 53 but some draft analysts, like NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, felt that he should have gone much higher. The Florida product suffered a hamstring injury during his workout with Detroit and was unable to audition for other teams, so that might explain why he was still available. Then again, we’ve seen “pretend injuries” before, so it’s possible there was a wink-wink deal between Tabor’s team and the Lions.
Kaaya was said to have one of the highest football IQs of any quarterback in this year’s class. It remains to be seen whether he has the arm to make it as an NFL quarterback, but the Lions believe that he can be a solid backup QB, at minimum.
According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (on Twitter), Valoaga got $22K guaranteed ($12K bonus, $10K base) to sign with Detroit. Typically, UDFAs get around $5K, so that’s a sign that Valoaga had at least a few teams interested in adding him to the 90-man roster.