The Detroit Lions must cut down their roster to 53 players on Saturday
Every NFL team, including the Detroit Lions, are required by the league to trim their 80-man rosters to 53 players by Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Lions organization has done little to move towards that number this past week, apparently evaluating their roster to the last moment.
Below, we’ll be continuously updating a list of players who have reportedly been released or waived by the Lions in an effort to get down to a 53-man roster. Please, check back often to see who’s been added to the tracker.
Here are the players reportedly cut by the Detroit Lions so far …
- David Blough, QB (per Tom Pelissero)
- Jason Huntley, RB*
- Jonathan Williams, RB (per Ian Rapoport)
- Wes Hills, RB
- Matt Sokol, TE*
- Isaac Nauta, TE (per Tom Pelissero)
- Victor Bolden, WR*
- Tom Kennedy, WR
- Chris Lacy, WR
- Geremy Davis, WR
- Oday Aboushi, OL
- Beau Benzschawel, OL
- Kenny Wiggins, OL
- Dan Skipper, OL (waived/injured)
- Will Clarke, DE
- Kevin Wilkins, DT
- Frank Herron, DT
- Olive Sagapolu, DT
- Albert Huggins, DL*
- Frank Herron, DL (per Dave Birkett)
- Kevin Strong, DT (per Justin Rogers)
- Anthony Pittman, LB*
- Dee Virgin, CB*
- Jalen Elliott, S
- Bobby Price, S (per Detroit Free Press)
- Arryn Siposs, P
- Steve Wirtel, LS
———————————-
- Jayron Kearse. S (Reserve/Suspended)
- Austin Bryant, DE (Reserve/PUP)
*Reported by Michael Rothstein, ESPN
From the Detroit Lions ST coach. https://t.co/g4yuOgsuh9
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) September 5, 2020
This is a pivotal season for the Lions. Coming off a 3-12-1 performance in 2019, and having won just nine games over the past two seasons together, general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia are presumably on the hot seat.
Lions ownership granted the duo a reprieve at the end of last season with the caveat that the expectation for 2020 is that the team will be a playoff contender. So playing meaningful games in the month of December is a must for Quinn, Patricia, and company this year.
That places an extra level of significance to today’s moves and the decisions the Lions made over the offseason. Earlier this year, it appeared to be business as usual for Detroit with Quinn and Patricia continuing with the plans they set out with back in early 2018.
The Detroit Lions continued to add several former New England Patriots’ players to their roster with linebacker Jamie Collins, defensive tackle Danny Shelton, and safety Duron Harmon all joining the team this offseason. And all three are expected to be Week One starters on the defense.
They will join several other former ex-Patriots like wide receiver Danny Amendola, defensive end Trey Flowers, and cornerback Justin Coleman on the Lions’ active roster in 2020.