An official roster move had not yet been announced by the team at that point, but it appears defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs' run with the Detroit Lions is over.
Here's what Buggs posted to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
Thank You Detroit For Everything The Past Year Has Been Amazing From Meeting New People Playing With Great Teammates But The Time Has Come For Me To Say Goodbye. Detroit 96 Out. ❤️
— Isaiah D. Buggs (@BigPooh_91) January 2, 2024
Update, Jan. 2, 2:30 p.m. ET: As expected, multiple reports say the Lions are waiving Buggs.
The #Lions are waiving veteran DL Isaiah Buggs, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 2, 2024
Coach Dan Campbell said DT Alim McNeill could be back from IR this week and this makes room.
The Lions have waived Isaiah Buggs. Would expect a number of transactions this afternoon, but that one is a little surprising, even with McNeill pegged for a return this week.
— Justin Rogers | Detroit News (@Justin_Rogers) January 2, 2024
The Lions have a looming crunch to make room on the 53-man roster for returning injured players (C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Alim McNeill, James Houston?) and putting Bruce Irvin on the active roster is another looming move. Most directly impacting Buggs, since they are in the same position group, is the potential return of McNeill for Week 18 against the Vikings.
In a broad sense, it was easy to see Buggs as a candidate to be let go as roster spots needed to be opened up.
The 2023 season has been a rough one for Isaiah Buggs
Signed just before 2022 training camp, Buggs was a key cog in the resurgence of the Lions' run defense late last season. But this season started with him being benched for the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, after which Lions head coach Dan Campbell had a straight forward explanation for the move.
"We base everything off the tape, period,” “I’ve spoken to Buggs, and that stays between us. But yeah, we feel like the guys (that are) the best prepared to go this week for this game, those are the guys that will be up.”
Buggs never recovered from being benched for what ended up being the first two games of the season. He did miss one game due to an illness. But otherwise, he has been a healthy scratch for multiple games and a non-entity when he has played. It's fair to say a primary reason he has played the last four games is because McNeill was out after suffering a knee injury in Week 13 and going on IR, and the Lions simply needed a body on the interior defensive line.
Once the move is made official by the Lions, Buggs will be subject to waivers. If he clears, he'll be a free agent and can sign with any team.