The NFL gets very busy this week, with all 32 teams trimming their rosters from a maximum of 90 for the preseason down to 53 players by Tuesday, August 27th at 4 p.m. ET. Some teams have already started their cuts, notably the Cincinnati Bengals, after their final preseason games.
All the players flooding the market at the same basic time can be difficult to sort through. Here’s what you need to know for the Lions.
Waived vs. Released
First off is the difference between being waived and being released. Being “cut” is a more generic term, but teams are actually either waiving or releasing a player.
Vested NFL veterans, those with at least four qualifying seasons, are released. That transaction ends their contract and they are unrestricted free agents, able to sign with any team without any compensation due back to the team that released them. They’re also free to sign back with the same team, either on the active roster or practice squad, once that can be established at 12 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Detroit released Dan Skipper last season at the deadline, knowing the veteran was not going to go anywhere else before the team could bring him back.
Any player with less than four years of accrued NFL service time is waived. That means they are subject to waiver wire claims. Every other team is free to place a waiver claim on the player.
Last year, 24 players who were waived got claimed by another team. That includes cornerback Starling Thomas, who was waived by the Lions and claimed by the Cardinals. Current Lions CB Kindle Vildor was also a waiver wire claim after roster cutdowns last year, moving from the Bears to the Titans. In 2023, 33 players were claimed.
Waiver claims
The waiver claim order is pretty straightforward. It’s the exact same as the 2024 NFL Draft order before any trades. The Carolina Panthers have the No. 1 spot by earning the top pick in the 2024 draft; that the Panthers traded the pick to the Bears doesn’t matter in the waiver process.
Detroit has the No. 27 spot in the waiver claim order. If any of the 26 teams ahead of the Lions place a claim on a player that the Lions also claim, Detroit loses out. Those waiver claims are processed at noon on Wednesday.
Any player claimed must remain on the active 53-man roster for a minimum of four weeks. It also requires the team claiming a player to make another roster move to create a spot on its 53-man roster. This is how the Lions picked up Romeo Okwara several years ago; Okwara was on the Giants’ initial 53-man roster, then got waived when New York claimed a player. The Lions then claimed Okwara and waived Anthony Zettel.
Injured players
The NFL adopted a rule change in 2024 that allows two players to be placed on the injured reserve list before the roster cutdowns and still be designated to return during the season. In the past, if a player went on I.R. at the roster cutdown deadline, he was out for the season. They must miss a minimum of four games.
Detroit has players who might fit this bill in DL John Cominsky and CB Emmanuel Moseley. Without knowing the severity of his injury, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu could also be a candidate here.
In addition, the Lions have defensive lineman DJ Reader and rookie offensive lineman Christian Mahogany on non-football injury/illness lists. If they’re not officially activated before the 4 p.m. Tuesday deadline, they have to remain inactive for four weeks. If they are activated, they do count against the 53-man roster limit even if they’re not healthy enough to play right away.