With just one week exactly until the Detroit Lions kickoff their 2026 season, they remain without two more players to round out their 53-man roster. Despite this, they're also still over the cap, which they have to get under before Monday.
Some roster gymnastics will have to get done in order to get cap compliant, especially with the team without two more players on the roster that are likely to join the squad ahead of Week 1. There might be a reason for them keeping those two spots open, and it is a lot more boring than what some fans might be imagining.
Lions still under 53 players ahead of Week 1
The Lions waived Seth McLaughlin and Jabari Small, who were injured towards the end of the preseason. McLaughlin had some value to the Lions as they're thin at center, although he was outplayed throughout the preseason by Juice Scruggs and Mason Miller - not an exactly impressive competitive pool to be falling behind in.
Small was also an interesting cut given Isiah Pacheco's IR stint to begin the season. Adding running back depth, and not cutting it, should be in Detroit's best interest ahead of the season, right?
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Well, it does seem like these two players were waived to avoid having to pay out an injury settlement to either player, but with the intent of bringing both back ahead of the year. That would likely land them on the practice squad, with the Lions then promoting two other players to make room for them. Very boring reasoning, as mentioned.
Of course, this still doesn't account for the cap issues facing the Lions. They'll likely just need to restructure some deals in order to make things work on the books, and it's not that they're keeping these two spots open for any big swing trades prior to any restructuring.
Likely candidates for a promotion include linebacker Joe Bachie, guard/center Mason Miller, or defensive back Nick Whiteside. Bachie provides special teams pop for Detroit, while Miller was a solid center for the Lions in limited preseason snaps. Whiteside was a surprise cut, but he still offers some help to the Lions in their secondary if they're unimpressed at any point by the play of Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Roger McCreary, or any other CB that plays on the outside.
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