Every year there are some stunners across the NFL when final roster cuts are made. Will the Detroit Lions make one of the surprising releases when the team whittles the roster down to 53 by Saturday afternoon’s deadline? It could very well happen. New head coach Matt Patricia doesn’t have the personal investment in players that a legacy coach would, and the change in schemes provides a ready-made excuse for making an unexpected move or two. Here are four Lions who might be in more peril of staying in Detroit than most fans might think…<doc-sep>The Detroit Lions must trim their roster from 90 players to 53 by 4:00 PM Saturday. Here are the players that will make the cut. The Detroit Lions 53 man roster will not contain only players that they currently have on the roster. General manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia clearly know they need some pop in the pass rush. They traded for Eli Harold and signed Robert Ayers the week before the final preseason game. Ayers would immediately have bumped Lions players that will play 60% or more of the Lions defensive snaps to the bench. Ayers is not really all that good. I suspect they will continue to pick through the cut list and find a similar player on the scrap heap. They will not do that by 4:00 PM Saturday, however. Their roster after cut downs will look something like this: Quarterback (2) Running back (5) Wide Receiver (5) Tight End (4) Offensive Tackle (4) Offensive Guard (3) Center (2) Defensive Tackle (4) Defensive end (4) Linebacker (6) Cornerback (6) Safety (5) Specialists (3) The Lions will make changes after the rest of the NFL have announced their cut downs, but that is the basic skeleton of the 2018 Lions team. The most likely additions to the practice squad are Jeremiah Ledbetter, Brandon Powell, Alex Barrett, Joe Dahl and Jake Rudock. Many of those players will join the team as injuries mount during the year.<doc-sep>DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 30: Kenny Wiggins #79 of the Detroit Lions runs onto the field prior to playing the Cleveland Browns during a preseason game at Ford Field on August 30, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) The Detroit Lions are finalizing their roster as they prepare for the start of the regular season. It’s the hottest topic among today’s top headlines. The Detroit Lions slimmed down their roster to just 53 players over the weekend, putting many of their fringe prospects on the streets. That’s the hottest topic circling the Pride at the moment. From a breakdown of the entire roster to pinpointing positional groups and those who have been added to the practice squad; we’ve collected some of the web’s top headlines about your Detriot Lions below. TWENTYMAN: Breaking down the 53-man roster – DetroitLions.com Off all the moves made by the Lions to trim their roster to 53 players on Saturday, the release of former Seattle Seahawks cornerback DeShawn Shead is likely the most surprising. The 6-foot-2, 216-pound seventh-year veteran was thought at one point to be in a neck-and-neck competition with Teez Tabor and Nevin Lawson for the starting cornerback spot opposite Darius Slay. Now, he’s completely off the team. Lions keep six receivers, including Brandon Powell – ESPN.com Some speculated that the Lions might only carry four wide receivers on their 53-man roster. Yet, Detroit opted to keep six including Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay, T.J. Jones, Brandon Powell, and Bradley Marquez. The last two were thought to be competing with one another for a possible single spot. Ends up, they both made it. Detroit Lions sign Jake Rudock, 6 others to practice squad – Detroit Free Press A couple of the bigger cut casualties in quarterback Jake Rudock, linebacker Darnell Sankey, and safety Rolan Milligan were added to the Lions practice squad. From outside the team, cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc and linebacker Eric Lee have now been brought in to join the practice squad as well. That leaves Detroit with just one open spot left to fill. Former Chicago Bears CB joining Detroit Lions practice squad – The Detroit News What is interesting about Cre’Von LeBlanc is the fact he spent some time with Matt Patricia when he was a member of the New England Patriots for s short time. So there are clearly qualities that Patricia likes about LeBlanc. As a member of the Chicago Bears the past two seasons, LeBlanc has recorded one pick-six in his short career. That being against quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2016. Has the Detroit Lions’ Matt Patricia been ‘Lionized’ already? – SideLion Report Finally, there has been a lot of talk following the Lions final preseason loss about comments made by new head coach Matt Patricia. I can’t recommend enough the above story by contributor Robert Jones, who puts the whole situation in context. In his words: I’m sure Patricia has come to a realization of what he’s gotten [himself] into.<doc-sep>The Detroit Lions are trimming down their roster to just 53 players between now and Saturday afternoon. We’ll update those cuts below. This is always a bittersweet time for NFL fans. The Detroit Lions, along with every other team in the league, are required to trim their bloated 90-man rosters down to just 53 players by Saturday afternoon, leaving over 1,000 professional football players unemployed. News of these cuts usually start to trickle in a day or two before. Therefore, we’ll try our best to document those cuts below as the news is released and provide you with the source of that information. For the Lions, there are several players considered to be on the fringe of making the active roster. And their performances throughout the offseason, OTA’s minicamp, training camp and the preseason will all be used as part of the evaluation process. And once the Lions shave down their roster to the final 53, there is actually nothing final about it. As players hit the open market and the waiver wire, Detroit will likely find opportunities to improve their team. But before they can sign anyone new, they’ll have to release a player as well. Below you’ll find the Lions players who have been or will be reportedly cut, released to free agency, sent to the waiver wire or traded. Reported Roster Cuts by the Detroit Lions Sterling Moore, Cornerback – Source Brian Brown, Wide Receiver – Source Jamar McGloster, Offensive Lineman – Source Jeremiah Valoaga, Defensive End – Source Josh Fatu, Defensive Tackle – Source Marcus Lucas, Tight End – Source Chad Meredith, Linebacker – Source John Montelus, Guard – Source Teo Redding, Wide Receiver – Source Christian Ringo, Defensive End – Source Cam Johnson, Defensive End – Source Dexter McDougle, Defensive Back – Source Marcus Cromartie, Defensive Back (Injured Reserve) – Source Corey Robinson, Offensive Tackle (Trade) – Source Chris Lacy, Wide Receiver – Source DeShawn Shead, Cornerback – Source Jake Rudock, Quarterback – Source Mike Ford, Cornerback – Source Jace Billingsley, Wide Receiver – Source Wesley Johnson, Center – Source Zach Zenner, Running Back (Injured Reserve) – Source Dwayne Washington, Running Back – Source Rolan Milligan, Safety – Source Chris Jones, Cornerback – Source Freddie Bishop, Linebacker – Source Sean McGrath, Tight End – Source Dontez Ford, Wide Receiver – Source Alex Barrett, Defensive End – Source Jonathan Freeny, Linebacker – Source Jeremiah Ledbetter, Defensive End – Source Darnell Sankey, Linebacker – Source Ryan Santos, Kicker – Source Dan Skipper, Offensive Tackle – Source Andy Jones, Wide Receiver (PUP List) – Source Toby Johnson, Defensie Tackle – Source We’ll be updating this post throughout the next two days, so be sure to keep checking back to see if anyone new has been added to the growing list. The Detroit Lions will kick off their regular season on Monday night, September 10, 2018, at 7:10 p.m. ET against the New York Jets at Ford Field. The game will air on ESPN. For the Jets, it appears rookie quarterback Sam Darnold is the likely starter under center following the recent trade of Teddy Bridgewater to the New Orleans Saints. Last season, the Jets finished the year going 5-11, losing six of their last seven games.<doc-sep>
The Detroit Lions are in the midst of cutting their roster down to only 53 players. We’ll cover that and more in today’s edition of headlines! The Detroit Lions have begun the process of trimming down their roster to just 53 players. They’ll have to do so by the league-mandated deadline of Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET. Once they do, the search begins for possible free agents who may be able to help the Lions in the regular season. But Saturday is all about those fringe players. Who will make the initial 53-man roster and stay in the Motor City? And who is on the way out? We’ll get those answers later today. In the meantime, here are five Lions’ headlines we think are worth our reader’s time. Lions announce roster moves – DetroitLions.com On Friday, a total of 13 players were revealed as final cut casualties, one of whom was waived due to injury. Out of those names, there were no real surprises. Wide receiver Teo Redding made some spectacular catches in training camp but didn’t get much of an opportunity in the preseason. Defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga seemed to have a solid chance of making the active roster but it just wasn’t meant to be. Jake Rudock or Matt Cassel: Who should be Detroit Lions backup? – Detroit Free Press This is a bit of a toss-up. If the Lions value experience, they’ll go with Matt Cassel. If they value youth, it’s Rudock. Both performed about the same in the preseason, with neither quarterback really separating themselves from the other. Not sure it ultimately matters as Matthew Stafford can never be replaced anyway. Five possible Lions draft prospects: Week 1 – The Detroit News It seems way to early to be talking about the 2019 NFL Draft, with the start of the regular season just around the corner. But what’s interesting about the above article is how an offensive lineman, Alabama’s Ross Pierschbacher, is mentioned as a potential target. Detroit has used two of their last three first round picks on the O-line. So doing so again seems implausible. But I likely would have said the same thing at this time last year. Detroit Lions’ Matt Patricia realizing just how tough of a job he has – Detroit Free Press Some of Matt Patricia’s answers to questions following the Lions final preseason on Thursday were disturbing. The first-time head coach mentioned this team has got a long way to go. That’s not something you want to hear if you are a Lions’ fan. This was a 9-7 team last year that brought Patricia in to get them over the playoff hump, not rebuild. Herman Moore, Alex Karras, Roger Brown to join Pride of Lions display – ESPN.com Anytime you can honor the greats, you should. And these three exemplify what it means to be a Detroit Lion. Well deserved gentleman. Well deserved.