The Detroit Lions officially announced all of their final roster cuts made in advance of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. The last list of moves includes a couple of surprising developments.
Activating CB Emmanuel Moseley from the PUP list removed one expected spot on the 53-man roster. The “victim” wound up being undrafted rookie Starling Thomas, who had impressed early with his speed and special teams ability.
Thomas did not make it, but fellow UDFA Steven Gilmore did. Gilmore, from Marshall, thrived in coverage in the preseason and got better throughout the summer. Khalil Dorsey also earned a spot at DB over Thomas, which is not something many expected a couple of weeks ago.
Fan favorite wideout Chase Cota was waived with an injury settlement, bringing his time with Detroit to an apparent end.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came at running back, where the Lions only have two on the roster. Benny Snell was released, while Jermar Jefferson was waived with injury designation. Neither of those was surprising. Releasing No. 3 RB Craig Reynolds is a stunner, though because he’s not eligible to be claimed on waivers, this could just be a temporary roster finagling and Reynolds could return quickly.
The final cuts, via the Lions:
This is in addition to the previously announced cutdowns.