Tag: Donovan Peoples-Jones

Former Michigan football star re-signs with Detroit Lions

Congrats, DPJ! #GoBlue

It was a feel-good story last year, when former Michigan football wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones landed back in his hometown at midseason.

And the story continues.

A five-star recruit at Detroit (Michigan) Cass Tech, Peoples-Jones departed Ann Arbor a year early and was a late-round NFL draft pick, ending up with the Cleveland Browns. While he showed some merit in the AFC, he received a new lease on his career when he joined the Detroit Lions midseason, finishing his year playing in the NFC championship game. It turns out he’ll get to stay home: The Lions and Peoples-Jones agreed to a one-year deal for up to $2 million.

Peoples-Jones has an opportunity with the Lions. At Michigan, he was expected to be the No. 1 receiver and that really only played out in his freshman year. With the Lions, he’ll be behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. At the moment, there are also other receivers who have made impacts, such as Craig Reynolds and returner Kalif Raymond. There will not be much pressure on Peoples-Jones to be the No. 1 guy. With a full season to showcase his skills, he could turn into a bona fide top target in Ben Johnson’s system.

Donovan Peoples-Jones signs with the Lions

Free agent wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones signs with the Detroit Lions

The Lions first activity of the offseason at wide receiver arrived on Saturday afternoon. Numerous reports indicate that free agent Donovan Peoples-Jones is heading back to Detroit on a one-year contract.

Per Aaron Wilson, it’s a one-year deal worth up to $2 million for Peoples-Jones to return to the Lions. Detroit acquired the 25-year-old from Cleveland at the trade deadline last fall.

In eight games with the Lions, the Detroit native (Cass Tech HS) caught five passes for 58 yards. Despite having experience as a return man in his Browns days, the Lions opted not to utilize Peoples-Jones in that capacity.

His return bolsters the wideout depth chart, which had lost him and starter Josh Reynolds as free agents. Reynolds remains unsigned.

Detroit Lions unrestricted free agents now that the 2023 season is completed

With the 2024 offseason looming, here is the master list of the Detroit Lions unrestricted free agents

The Detroit Lions had an impressive season, coming within one game of a Super Bowl berth despite their loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Looking ahead, the future seems promising for the Lions.

GM Brad Holmes and Coach Dan Campbell are likely already diligently evaluating the roster, identifying areas for improvement to overcome the challenges. From a personal perspective, they should have the trust of the fanbase to execute the necessary moves. As they enter the offseason, the Lions possess $58.6 million in cap space, ranking sixth in the NFL according to Over the Cap. This substantial amount will likely be essential to bolster the roster, especially with only 38 players currently under contract for the upcoming season.

Certain players demonstrated their value this season, earning a return to the roster, while others failed to meet expectations. The decisions on who to retain and who to release will be intriguing. Here’s the comprehensive list of the Lions’ unrestricted free agents.

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Lions 1st injury report for Week 11 vs. the Bears: 2 players sit out

Lions 1st injury report for Week 11 vs. the Bears: 2 players sit out and 3 more were limited in Wednesday’s practice

The first official Week 11 injury report from the Detroit Lions came out after Wednesday’s practice session.The first practice participation report ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Chicago Bears reflects how well the Lions fared on the injury front in the Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Two players did not practice at all on Wednesday: left guard Jonah Jackson and defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs. Jackson was listed with a wrist injury as well as an ankle designation. Buggs was out with an undisclosed illness.

Three more Lions were limited:

WR Kalif Raymond (ankle)

S Ifeatu Melifonwu (hand)

DT Levi Onwuzurike (hip)

One player no longer on the injury list is guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Big V was placed on injured reserve earlier this week due to his ongoing back issues. Players on I.R. do not appear on the injury report.

Wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones practiced in full after missing his first week with the team due to a rib injury.

Lions inactive players vs. Chargers: DPJ and Brodric Martin will not play

Donovan Peoples-Jones and Brodric Martin are among the Lions who will not play against the Chargers.

Lions fans hoping to catch new wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones in a Detroit uniform will have to wait a little longer. Peoples-Jones is one of the inactive players for the Lions in the Week 10 matchup in Los Angeles against the Chargers.

“DPJ” was acquired via trade from the Cleveland Browns at the trade deadline, but he’s dealing with a rib injury that will keep him on the sideline for at least another week.

He’s joined on the inactive list by guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai and DL Levi Onwuzurike as players who appeared on the final injury report as questionable or worse.

There are three healthy scratches, all rookies. Third-round DT Brodric Martin is back to inactive after getting his first action in the Week 8 win over the Raiders. Undrafted rookies Steven Gilmore and Trevor Nowaske are also inactive.

 

 

 

 

POLL: How would you grade the Browns’ trade of WR Donovan Peoples-Jones?

How would you grade the trade of Donovan Peoples-Jones from the Browns to the Lions?

The Cleveland Browns are a sixth round pick richer, but a wide receiver poorer. At the trade deadline on Tuesday, the Browns shipped off wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a 2025 sixth round pick.

Peoples-Jones, a fan favorite, managed just 98 yards on eight catches in all of 2023 thus far. The move has been scrutinized on social media despite the Browns getting an asset for nine games of a player who was not producing in their offense. Rookie third rounder Cedric Tillman will now get a chance to step up for the Browns in Peoples-Jones’ absence.

From the perspective of this writer, the grade gets a B as the Browns get at least something for a player who would have walked in free agency regardless. However, there is a solid chance the Browns could have gotten a fourth round pick had they traded him before the season.

How would you grade the trade?

[polldaddy poll=12934894]

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Donovan Peoples-Jones says goodbye to Browns on Instagram

The receiver took to Instagram to express his gratitude for Cleveland.

The NFL trade deadline has come to a close, and the Cleveland Browns made just one move: they traded wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a 2025 sixth round pick.

The writing was on the wall for the fourth-year receiver as he has just nine games left on his contract and the Browns made no effort to work on an extension with him this past offseason. By selecting Cedric Tillman in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, the Browns signaled even further that Peoples-Jones was not in their long-term plans.

There is a ton to admire about Peoples-Jones, however, as he fought to get on the field right away as a sixth round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. He was on the receiving end of a couple of big-time catches, including a game-winner against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021. The Michigan product now gets to resume his playing career in his hometown.

He did not leave without saying goodbye to Cleveland, however, taking to his Instagram to express his gratitude for the city and the Browns:

“Cleveland, I want to thank the ownership and coaching staff for the amazing opportunity that I’ve had the past few years. I’m so grateful for each experience, lesson, and the time that I’ve been blessed with during my time in Cleveland. I’m thankful for the staff and everyone else in the building that I was able to interact with on a daily basis. My teammates I will love forever, and I cherish the brotherhood that I’ve been apart of for the last few years. Thank you also to the fans that have accepted me and have been nothing but supportive since the day I arrived in Cleveland. I wish the Browns, and Cleveland the absolute best with everything moving forward.”

Best of luck to Peoples-Jones in Detroit!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzE_tuGpjZK/?hl=en

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Brad Holmes on big-name trade ideas for the Lions: ‘It’s not reality’

Holmes added, “there’s nothing that we leave unturned or ignored or anything,” and discussed why the team added WR Donovan Peoples-Jones

The NFL trade deadline passed on a Halloween afternoon without a lot of activity in Detroit. Lions GM Brad Holmes held a press conference to discuss the state of the team and his thoughts and experience at the deadline.

Holmes made it clear that a lot of the names that fans and some media fantasized about where just that: fantasy.

“A lot of these names that you might see pop up, they look good in the media, and they are names, but that’s often – it’s not reality,” Holmes said. “Those same names that you see pop up, when you start getting into conversation, it just doesn’t work out for the best for us.

So, every team has a different plight, every team is in different place, different direction, different phase in their team building, but no, there’s nothing that we leave unturned or ignored or anything. We look at every position, we look at everything and this was the best one for us.”

Other teams did make some moves around the league. The Washington Commanders dealt away former first-round pass rushers Montez Sweat (to the Bears) and Chase Young (to the 49ers). Seattle picked up Giants DT Leonard Williams, while the Vikings dealt for one-time Lions third-string QB Joshua Dobbs from Arizona.

Holmes then explained the rationale behind the move the Lions did make, acquiring wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones from the Cleveland Browns for a 2025 sixth-round pick.

“Well, I mean obviously we – Marvin (Jones Jr.) had to step away, so we were down a receiver period, so we had to look to add another one regardless,” Holmes explained. “There’s a lot of different avenues that you can take, so this is the one that we chose.”

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Browns ship Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Lions and Twitter erupted

Here is how Twitter reacted as the Browns shipped off Donovan Peoples-Jones for a sixth round pick.

The Cleveland Browns got a 100 percent return on investment out of wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. Drafting the wide receiver out of Michigan in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL draft, the Browns have now traded Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions for a 2025 sixth round pick.

Peoples-Jones only has half of a season left on his contract, and the Browns showed no interest in extending him. They actually drafted his replacement this April instead in Cedric Tillman. On the season, Peoples-Jones has once again struggled to gain any separation and has amounted to just 98 yards on 8 catches in 2023.

This has opened up space for both David Bell and \Tillman to see the field in Cleveland.

As always, Browns fans can be trusted to be reasonable and level-headed when they take their thoughts and emotions to Twitter. Right? Well, not exactly. Here is how Browns Twitter reacted to the trade of Peoples-Jones to the Lions.

Browns trade WR Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Lions for 6th round pick

Cleveland Browns WR Donovan Peoples-Jones was traded to the Detroit Lions for a 2025 6th round pick.

The Cleveland Browns have sent wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions for a 2025 sixth round pick according to Mary Kay Cabot. The veteran wide receiver from the University of Michigan is returning to his home state. Peoples-Jones is in the final year of his rookie contract and is set to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Peoples-Jones has played well for the Browns over the last four seasons. The wide receiver has glue for hands and could always be relied on during clutch time. Peoples-Jones started the season off slow as the Browns have had to shuffle around their quarterbacks causing the passing game to suffer.

Peoples-Jones role was relegated into a glorified blocker as the season went on. The receiver has played the most snaps out of the group and has run the most routes, but he hasn’t been able to find any production. Peoples-Jones is a big-bodied receiver who can win at the catch point but lacks the separation skills to earn targets from quarterbacks whom he lacks chemistry with.

Peoples-Jones finishes his career in Cleveland with 1,837 receiving yards on 117 receptions and 8 touchdowns. Hopefully, the receiver is able to bounce back with the Lions.

The Browns have a few options to replace Peoples-Jones with between rookie Cedric Tillman, 2nd-year wideout David Bell, and veteran Marquise Goodwin. The Browns will need to replace him on the punt return. On Sunday, the Browns tried Elijah Moore as the punt returner, but he looked indecisive. The Browns might elevate practice squad member Jaleon Darden who has experience returning punts.