The Detroit Lions took their sweet time officially announcing their final roster moves after Tuesday afternoon's 4 p.m ET deadline to be down to 53 players. But as long as the league office knew in time, that's all they have to worry about.
It seems likely to change by the end of the week in some spots, if it takes that long, but here's a look at the initial 53-man roster for the Lions this season.
Initial Detroit Lions' 53-man roster going into 2023 season
Quarterbacks (2)
Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater
NFI List: Hendon Hooker
Running Backs (3)
David Montgomery
Jahmyr Gibbs
Jason Cabinda (FB)
Craig Reynolds and Bennie Snell were released, and Jermar Jefferson was waived/injured. But the Lions will not carry just three running backs (if you can even count Cabinda as a running back) into the season on the active roster. Re-signing Reynolds, or adding someone else, is a guarantee here in the coming days.
Wide Receivers (5)
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Josh Reynolds
Kalif Raymond
Marvin Jones
Antoine Green
Suspended list: Jameson Williams
Tight Ends (3)
Sam LaPorta
Brock Wright
James Mitchell
Offensive Line (8)
Taylor Decker
Jonah Jackson
Frank Ragnow
Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Penei Sewell
Graham Glasgow
Colby Sorsdal
Matt Nelson
Interior Defensive Line (5)
Alim McNeill
Isaiah Buggs
Levi Onwuzurike
Benito Jones
Brodric Martin
Edge Rusher (7)
Aidan Hutchinson
Charles Harris
John Cominsky
Josh Paschal
James Houston
Romeo Okwara
Julian Okwara
It felt like at least one Okwara brother would not make the Lions' roster, one way (trade) or the other (released), but both made it on the initial 53 here.
Linebacker (6)
Alex Anzalone
Jack Campbell
Malcolm Rodriguez
Derrick Barnes
Jalen Reeves-Maybin
Anthony Pittman
Cornerback (7)
Cameron Sutton
Jerry Jacobs
Emmanuel Moseley
Brian Branch
Will Harris
Steven Gilmore
Khalil Dorsey
Moseley (knee) was taken off the PUP list on Tuesday.
Safeties (4)
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Kerby Joseph
Tracy Walker
Ifeatu Melifonwu
Specialists (3)
PK Riley Patterson
P Jack Fox
LS Scott Daly
Patterson is ripe to be replaced after a tough preseason finale, and the Lions were calling around about kickers before the roster cut deadline.