Detroit Lions part ways with three players ahead of first roster cut deadline

NFL teams have to be down to 85 players by Tuesday afternoon, and the Detroit Lions let go of three on Monday morning.

After the first preseason game comes the first round of cuts for NFL teams. Monday morning the Detroit Lions announced center Ryan McCollum and tight end Nolan Givan have been waived while tight end Garrett Griffin has been released.

Griffin was signed as a free agent this offseason. He spent time with the New Orleans Saints, including when Lions head coach Dan Campbell was tight ends coach there. He had been working as a fullback during training camp, with Jason Cabinda (ankle) on the PUP list.

Givan, an undrafted rookie of Southeastern Louisiana by way of Ball State, played 14 snaps in the preseason opener against the Falcons and was always a long shot to make the Lions’ roster.

McCollum played in 13 games with one start for the Lions last year as an undrafted rookie, after being signed off the Houston Texans practice squad. As the third-string center behind a now-healthy Frank Ragnow and Evan Brown he wasn’t likely to make the team, and an injury during training camp did him no favors.

Detroit Lions have two more cuts to make before Tuesday deadline

The Lions have trimmed from eight to six tight ends, with two (T.J. Hockenson, Brock Wright) looking like locks with a third (rookie James Mitchell) looking pretty likely too. Griffin didn’t have much more goin for him than familiarity with Campbell, and as mentioned Givan was always a huge long shot to stick around past first cuts.

Teams have to be down to 85 rostered players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday–Aug.16. So the Lions have two more moves to make before then. They’ll head to Indianapolis for joint practices against the Colts later this week, with a preseason game between the two teams on Saturday.