The Detroit Lions showcased themselves prominently this past week at the NFL Combine, with everyone from head coach Dan Campbell to general manager Brad Holmes present to engage with the media and talk about the team’s future. In 2024, Detroit experienced a remarkable season and reached the playoffs, but they suffered a tough loss to the Washington Commanders on January 18, ending with a score of 45-31.
Currently, the team is beginning to make choices regarding players for the upcoming season, and one NFL analyst and expert is stating that they will release a veteran player.
Initial Casualty of the New Season for the Detroit Lions
As reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Detroit Lions intend to cut linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin when the new league year begins.
Additionally, the Detroit Free Press states that Reeves-Maybin knows about the news, mentioning, “The Lions notified Reeves-Maybin they intend to cut him before the start of the 2025 league year on March 12, a source familiar with the choice told the Free Press on Thursday (February 27).”
Reeves-Maybin is a notably prominent player. He serves as the president of the NFL Players Association, achieved his first Pro Bowl, and was named second-team All-Pro in 2023.
Reeves-Maybin was selected by the Lions in the fourth round of the 2017 draft and dedicated the initial five seasons of his career to the Motor City. He subsequently became a free agent and signed with the Houston Texans in 2022. After just a year with the Texans, he returned to the Lions as a free agent in 2023.
Detroit Lions in Figures
The Lions agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal with Reeves-Maybin last offseason. He was selected to serve as a team captain before the 2024 season. Nevertheless, last season, he sustained a neck injury that sidelined him for seven games.
Regarding the figures, Brad Berreman from SideLion Report points out that the player has a cap hit of $4.645 million for this season. “They will generate $1.895 million in cap space and incur $2.75 million in dead money by releasing him, with no difference between a pre or post-June 1 cut designation,” Berreman says, as reported by Over the Cap. Additionally, he is scheduled to get a $500,000 roster bonus on March 17.
“Therefore, the Lions aren’t increasing their cap space significantly by releasing Reeves-Maybin, and although dead money isn’t perfect, it isn’t particularly noticeable,” Berreman observes in