Detroit Lions 53-man roster projection heading into 2024 training camp

Specialists: 3 (53/53)

-PK Michael Badgley
-P Jack Fox
-LS Scott Daly

Jake Bates is the obvious fan favorite to be the Lions' kicker, even if the shine has fallen off him compared to early in the UFL season. It feels like he'll have to clearly beat out Badgley for the job though, with few if any missteps along the way in a competition that may not have the competitors on equal footing. The Lions just don't appear serious about actually replacing Badgley, and unless he's awful between the start of camp and roster cutdown day it's hard to see him losing his job.

Now, a bonus projection for the practice squad. For this year, as announced last year, NFL practice squads will expand to 17 players if one player is a qualifying international player. For the Lions we didn't project a qualifying international player, so a 16-man practice squad it is.

Practice Squad (16 players)

-PK Jake Bates
-QB Nate Sudfeld
-C Kingsley Eguakun
-DB Morice Norris
-S Loren Strickland
-LB Mitchell Agude
-WR Isaiah Williams
-OL Connor Galvin
-LB Ben Niemann
-LS Hogan Hatten
-WR Maurice Alexander
-WR Daurice Fountain
-WR Tom Kennedy
-TE Parker Hesse
-CB Steven Gilmore
-RB Jake Funk

If Bates does not beat out Badgley, he'd be a prime candidate to be poached by another team very quickly. Williams, a UDFA out of Illinois who the Lions gave significant guaranteed money to, is also someone other teams will have interest in if he's cut. The aforementioned Eguakun sticks here.