3 former Detroit Lions starters who might be done in the NFL

2. DE Charles Harris

The Lions notably had an issue generating pass rush off the edge outside of Aidan Hutchinson last year. We don't need to rehash that too deeply anymore. Yet Harris, eventually after a slow start, was rendered to be a non-entity and unable to help. Starting with the first time he was a healthy scratch (Week 7) through the playoffs, he played in seven games (65 snaps; 11 snaps over the last three games he suited up for). He was a healthy scratch in all three playoff games, which further foretold his future with the team as he neared free agency.

Harris was crossing into first-round bust territory, if he wasn't already there, when the Lions signed him in 2021. He resurrected his career, however briefly in hindsight, with a team-high 7.5 sacks that season. An injury hampered his 2022 campaign, then he had nothing to offer last year even when he was playing (1.5 sacks over the first six games).

Harris' career was surely on the ropes when he signed with the Lions at the start of their rebuild, with few other opportunities out there for him. He parlayed that now-obvious one-off campaign into a two-year contract, and for whatever reasons (not to dismiss the 2022 injury) he never came close to justifying that commitment.

The rest of the NFL has surely taken note of the fact Harris was deemed not able to help a team that needed all the edge rusher help it could get last year. Overall, he hasn't really gotten it done over seven NFL seasons. So he may just be done, with no more career lifelines like the Lions extended him three years ago coming.