Looking toward next season, these five current Detroit Lions players will not be back in 2023.
The Detroit Lions already have as many wins this season as they had all of the 2021 season. So it’s safe to assume 2022 will be a solid step of progress in Dan Campbell’s second season, and curb most of the talk about his job security.
But with the idea of 2022 being a sign of progress will come the idea of who is or isn’t part of the Lions future in 2023 and/or beyond. Some have seemed clear, like quarterback Jared Goff and defensive tackle Michael Brockers. Others have trended the way of being gone next season, and still others may be going the other way toward establishing a future in Detroit.
The Lions may again have a very young roster in 2023, with veterans currently on the team gone and possibly replaced by draft picks.
The way things are going, and perhaps at a point of no return for some no matter what happens over the rest of the season, here are five Detroit Lions players who will not be back in 2023.
5 Detroit Lions players who will not be back in 2023
5. QB Jared Goff
Starting with the low-hanging fruit. Some may say Goff’s future in Detroit beyond this season is still unclear, and perhaps dependent on how intent the Lions are to draft a quarterback next April. While drafting a quarterback is definitely a significant move, it can be done independent of a decision to keep Goff.
A $10 million dead money hit isn’t to be discounted, but the Lions can clear $20.65 million in cap space by parting with Goff in 2023. That money can be used to sign someone as a bridge/placeholder for a rookie, and they’d be a far cheaper one than Goff will be.
Goff is the kind of quarterback who keeps a team in proverbial purgatory–expensive and mediocre. The Lions don’t have to keep him around next year, and he can then start what will be a journeyman remainder of his career.
4. CB Amani Oruwariye
Oruwariye’s drop-off after intercepting six passes and looking like a future Pro Bowler in 2021 has been quick and shocking. He was Pro Football Focus’ lowest-graded qualifying cornerback early in the season (and may still be now), amid penalties and struggles to cover much of anyone. He was benched in Week 5, and a back injury cost him a game in Week 2.
After playing just one defensive snap in Week 9, Oruwariye played one defensive snap again in Week 10 against the Chicago Bears–with an uptick to 14 special teams snaps.
Into last offseason, Oruwariye seemed like a shoo-in for a contract extension from the Lions as he entered the final year of his rookie contract. The contract situation has been dismissed as a factor in his poor play this season. Now the Lions are in position with their cornerback room to give him the role he has earned, rather than the one it feels like he should have based on his performance last year. Future benchings are in play if things stay that way over the rest of the season, since one defensive snap in a game might as well be zero.
Oruwariye’s stock may be diminished so much now, and looking to free agency, that he ends up coming back to Detroit on a cheap one-year deal come March. But the Lions can, and should, just let him go. They are preparing to not have him next year right now, by simply not playing him.
3. LB Alex Anzalone
Anzalone was across the board awful in 2021, and he has been better at times this year. But on practically any team other than the Lions, he would not be a starting linebacker. Given the choice between he and Jaylen Reeves-Maybin in free agency last March, Detroit chose to keep Anzalone based on being cheaper and someone they liked the intangibles of as the “green dot” defensive play caller.
But Anzalone only came back on a one-year deal last offseason. The Lions drafted his eventual replacement (Malcolm Rodriguez) last April. And with more moves to possibly come to add linebackers, and others who will be around (Derrick Barnes), Anzalone may simply find a better opportunity somewhere else when he hits he market in March.
Anzalone is the dictionary definition of a stop-gap. Ideally, the Lions won’t have major gaps in their linebacking corps as they look to 2023 for him to fill with significant snaps. Experienced backups are important to have, but Anzalone shouldn’t be back in a Detroit uniform next year.
2. DE Charles Harris
Harris’ career was on its last legs as a first-round bust when he signed a one-year deal with the Lions in 2021. He responded, with a career and team-high 7.5 sacks last season. Then he was rewarded with a two-year, $13 million deal to stay in Detroit. He was ready to prove his breakout season was not a flash in the pan.
Harris had one sack over the first four games this season. Then he missed three games with a groin injury. Over the last two games (Week 9 and Week 10), he has played a total of 24 defensive snaps.
Harris is a better fit as a weakside defensive end, but the Lions have started to use Aidan Hutchinson more on that side in order to get the best from him. The debut and burgeoning role of rookie Josh Pashal, and the looming return of Romeo Okwara, will make more snaps hard to come by going forward. And Julian Okwara, coming off a two-sack game in Week 10, is also in the mix as an edge player for the Lions.
The Lions obviously didn’t give Harris a back-breaking contract. According to Over The Cap, a pre-June 1, 2023 cut would be almost an even split between dead money ($3,976,667) and cap savings ($4,011,666). A post-June 1 cut designation makes it $6 million in cap savings and less than $2 million in dead money.
Harris may simply not have the role to justify a cap number close to $8 million for the 2023 Lions. It’s hard to make it better than a 50-50 chance he’s back right now, and the final eight games are lined up to trend toward making it a practical certainty he won’t be.
1. WR DJ Chark
With a clear need at wide receiver, the Lions took an easy one-year free agency flier on Chark last offseason. With a 1,000-yard Pro Bowl season on his resume, and with injuries/dysfunction hampering his last couple years in Jacksonville, it was a move well-positioned to work out for both sides.
But Chark struggled to connect with Jared Goff in games that counted early in the season (seven catches on 18 targets), as the two were unable to carry chemistry over from the training camp practice field.
Then Chark started having some trouble with the surgically-repaired ankle that cost him most of last season, missing two games. Then he landed on IR after a setback, and will miss at least four more games. He is back at practice this week, but it’s likely Sunday against the New York Giants will be a fifth straight missed game and Chark’s seventh missed game overall this season.
It just hasn’t worked out for Chark this season in Detroit, and even before his injury sidelined him the team couldn’t have been happy with the results. A real effort to bring him back is not coming, or at least shouldn’t be. But once he returns to action he will have some kind of opportunity to get on a better track before hitting free agency again in March.