The Detroit Lions left themselves a bit of extra room at the final roster deadline, leading one insider to speculate that the team will soon be adding to a key position.
Tuesday was the final deadline for NFL teams to reach their 53-man roster, with the Lions making some difficult decisions on cuts. But the team went a bit deeper than required, keeping just 50 players and leaving three spots open for future additions.
The Lions are expected to fill the remaining spots soon, with The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy suggesting they will use some of the room to boost their edge rush.
Lions Need Help Off the Edge
The Lions went relatively light in their pass-rushing group, keeping just three edge rushers on the final roster. Behind star Aidan Hutchinson are Marcus Davenport and Al-Quadin Muhammad, with Josh Paschal on the reserve/NFI list.
Pouncy suggested that the Lions could have plans to bring back a veteran who joined the team after Hutchinson’s injury last year before being released to start the offseason.
“Is a ZaâDarius Smith reunion in the works?” Pouncy wrote. “Will the Lions put in a claim for a waived edge rusher? Will they sign or trade for one? Simply put, they wonât enter the season with three edge rushers.”
Smith ended up second behind Hutchinson last season with 4.0 sacks, picking up the slack for the back half of the season after Hutchinson’s season-ending broken leg.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes said earlier this month that the team has been in close contact with Smith’s team and is open to a reunion.
âWe said weâre going to keep in contact with his agent, but everything is not just one-sided. ZaâDarius has expectations, the team has expectations, so sometimes it takes a while for those things to get on the same page â especially [with] a guy thatâs been in the league as long as he has,â Holmes said. âIâm not saying that he doesnât want to be in training camp. But if he misses some time, thereâs obviously still interest there, and weâve been keeping in touch.â
Other insiders have suggested that the Lions had a plan to bring back Smith closer to the start of the season, allowing the veteran to miss training camp.
Lions Made Surprise Move
Aside from their decision to leave three roster spots temporarily vacant, the other big surprise from the Lions was the decision to waive defensive lineman Ahmed Hassanein with an injury settlement.
Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted that the team’s decision to place Paschal on the NFI list was another setback for the position.
“Hassanein being waived with an injury settlement is surprising,” Risdon wrote. “The rookie suffered a chest injury late in the preseason that isnât thought to be season-ending. [Josh] Paschal’s ongoing health battles make him tough to project.”
Risdon also suggested that the Lions would use some of their open roster space on the defensive line.
“This sure feels like a position where the Lions will be adding at least one of the three roster vacancies,” Risdon wrote.
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