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The Detroit Lions roster is going to look a lot different in Week 1 than it does at the start of training camp.
After a 5-11 season that saw the firings of head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn before it was over, the Detroit Lions are resetting/rebuilding again. And after 12 seasons, Matthew Stafford will not be the quarterback with a trade to the Los Angeles Rams that brought back Jared Goff.
In some areas (defense), the Lions can only be better in 2021. But any prediction for the season has them being one of the worst teams in the league, and lined up for a very high pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. New head coach Dan Campbell is almost refreshingly old school and he seems sure to be an easy quote, but overcoming a lack of talent is a whole different thing.
When the Lions start to evaluate things during training camp and preseason games, these three players won’t be on the roster come Week 1.
Detroit Lions roster 2021: Who won’t make it to Week 1?
3. Detroit Lions roster cut: DL Jashon Cornell
A seventh-round pick out of Ohio State in 2020, Cornell missed his entire rookie season due to a torn Achilles. He was surely hoping for a healthy and fresh start this year, even as a developmental prospect for a new coaching staff, but early this month he was suspended three games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
The Lions made another trade with the Rams to acquire defensive lineman Michael Brockers, then they drafted two defensive tackles (Levi Onwuzurike, Alim McNeill) in the second and third round respectively. So Cornell was already on the roster bubble, or more likely headed for the practice squad.
Campbell doesn’t come off as the kind of coach who’ll put up with lapses in off-field judgement. So it’s a little shocking Cornell hasn’t already been cut, but that formality will occur before Week 1.