Since they don't play until Monday night this week, the Detroit Lions have an extra day to do their business. Wednesday was not a practice day like it would be in a normal week, and according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson they had wide receiver Tom Kennedy in for a visit on Wednesday.
This week's announcement by Marvin Jones that he is stepping away from football to handle a personal family matter, and the Lions' move to release him, leaves a spot open in the Detroit wide receiving corps.
Kennedy has been on and off the Lions’ roster since 2019, when he went undrafted out of Bryant College. He spent most of that time on the Lions’ practice squad and often stood out in preseason games, with a total of 20 regular season game appearances. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he played 19 games and had 14 catches for 195 yards. His most memorable play was a 75-yard passing touchdown on a trick play in Week 18 of the 2021 season.
Detroit Lions roster: Tom Kennedy might be brought back to fill Marvin Jones' roster spot
Kennedy was waived/injured by the Lions this preseason after suffering an upper body injury during training camp and being seen with a sling on his left arm. He cleared waivers, and landed back on the Lions' injured reserve list. He was then released with an injury settlement, and once the timeframe for that expired the theoretical door was open for him to return to the team if he was still available.
This regime clearly likes Kennedy a lot, so he feels like a legit option to take the roster spot left behind by Jones. Kennedy was not immediately signed though, so it's fair to say the Lions are looking at multiple options with an open spot on the 53-man roster and they simply started with a familiar face.