Lions waive wide receiver Tyrell Williams with an injury settlement

Tyrell Williams has been out since Week 1, and on Friday the Detroit Lions waived him.

The Detroit Lions signed wide receiver Tyrell Williams to a one-year deal last offseason, on the notion he’d be their No. 1 wide receiver if only by default. But he suffered a concussion in Week 1, and with no apparent progress toward a return it was unclear when or if he might play this season.

Whenever Williams might be ready to play this season, if he ever is, it won’t be for the Lions. On Friday, the team waived him from IR with an injury settlement.

Williams played 39 snaps and had two catches for 14 yards against the 49ers in Week 1 before being injured. That will be the extent of his Lions’ tenure.

Tyrell Williams should be able to continue his career elsewhere

At this point, the Lions don’t really gain much benefit from waiving Williams. He was not taking up a spot on the 53-man roster. However, this past week’s activation of left tackle Taylor Decker from IR may have made it a little less likely Williams would be activated, as the Lions juggle roster spots during and looking past their bye week this week.

There has been no clear indication from the Lions Williams has cleared concussion protocol, almost two months removed from his injury, but it’s possible he has. An injury settlement suggests he has cleared protocol, and Williams may have asked to move on if the Lions had no plans to (or perhaps were hesitant to, in the wake of his head injury) put him on the active roster.

Williams missed the entire 2020 season for the Las Vegas Raiders with a shoulder injury, and they cut him last offseason. So he really hasn’t played since the 2019 season, when he averaged 15.5 yards a catch with six touchdowns in 14 games for the Raiders. If he’s healthy, there should be a team or two out there ready to entertain adding him–even if it’s just to the practice squad right off the bat.