It wasn’t the anticipated news release at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the NFL’s trade deadline, but the Detroit Lions did make a couple of roster moves announced at that witching hour. The Lions have activated left tackle Taylor Decker and defensive end Kevin Strong from the injured reserve list.
Both Decker and Strong were designated to return from IR three weeks ago. Decker has missed the first eight games with a finger injury suffered in the final practice before the season opener. Strong has been sidelined with a concussion and then a thigh injury. Both needed to be activated before the 21-day mark or else they would have reverted to IR for the rest of the season.
Decker suffered a setback after his initial practice sessions with the team upon being designated for return, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell indicated there was potential that the veteran LT could be lost for the season. He did not participate in any practices leading into the Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. But the Lions have seen enough to bring back the longest-tenured member of the team for the final nine games.
The Lions waived rookie OL Tommy Kraemer to create one roster spot. They previously had another spot open after placing OL Logan Stenberg on IR last week.