The Detroit Lions were on full display this past week at the NFL Combine, and everyone from head coach Dan Campbell to general manager Brad Holmes were there to talk to the media and discuss the future of the franchise. Detroit had a historic season in 2024 and made it to the playoffs, but they fell early and hard to the Washington Commanders on January 18, in a 45-31 defeat.
Now, the team is already making some decisions on players for next season, and one NFL analyst and expert is reporting that they’ll cut a veteran player loose.
First Casualty of the New Season for the Detroit Lions
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Detroit Lions plan to release linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin when the new league year kicks in.
Also, the Detroit Free Press reports that Reeves-Maybin is aware of the news, stating, “The Lions informed Reeves-Maybin they plan to release him before the start of the 2025 league year March 12, a person informed of the decision told the Free Press on Thursday (February 27).”
Reeves-Maybin is a quite a high-profile player. He’s the president of the NFL Players Association, made his first Pro Bowl and was also second-team All-Pro in 2023.
Reeves-Maybin was drafted by the Lions in the fourth round of the 2017 draft and spent the first five seasons of his career in the Motor City. He then became a free agent and signed with the Houston Texans in 2022. After only a year with the Texans, he re-joined the Lions as a free agent in 2023.
Detroit Lions By the Numbers
The Lions signed Reeves-Maybin to a two-year, $7.5 million contract last offseason. He was also picked to be a team captain ahead of the 2024 season. However, last season, he suffered a neck injury which left him out of seven games.
As for the numbers, Brad Berreman of SideLion Report notes that the player had a $4.645 million cap hit for this year. “They will clear $1.895 million in cap space and take on $2.75 million in dead money by cutting him, with no difference in a pre or post-June 1 cut designation,” Berreman states, according to Over the Cap. Also, he’s set to receive a $500,000 roster bonus on March 17.
“So, the Lions really aren’t gaining much cap space by cutting Reeves-Maybin, and while any dead money isn’t ideal that isn’t all that noticeable either,” Berreman notes in a Thursday, February 27, feature about the news. “This moves seems to be about opening up a roster spot, a little bit of money and/or an opportunity for someone else.”
Even missing seven games due to injury during the 2024 season, Reeves-Maybin averaged about 15 snaps a game. He told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press in early February that he was looking forward to playing for newly appointed Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
“I know he has dreams of being a head coach and it’s our job to make sure we go out there and make sure his defense look good and hopefully he’ll be a head coach one day,” Reeves-Maybin told the publication.
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