As the 2018 season winds down, some players could be making their final appearances as Detroit Lions. Here are some players who could be gone next season.
The Detroit Lions have one more home game and one more road trip then their 2018 season will come to a close. The Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills officially sealed the fate of the 2018 Lions as a non-playoff team so the expiration date on this Lions season is set. With every offseason comes at least some change to the roster which means some current players are facing the final two games of their Lions careers.
Bob Quinn’s tenure as general manager of the Detroit Lions has been a mixed bag as far as personnel decisions but the good news is that the current front office has done a good job with the team’s salary cap. The Lions have very few individual cap numbers that look like glaring mistakes and they will have enough room under the cap to do some free agent shopping without having to make any cuts.
There will not need to be any true “cap casualties”, though there are some opportunities to clear more cap space if they so desire. When a player’s skill or role don’t live up to the level required by their cap number, teams have to give a hard look at making a roster move.
Because unused cap space can be carried over into the next year, it just doesn’t make sense to be anything but as efficient as possible with cap dollars. It would be different if the NFL had a “use it or lose it” cap from year to year but that is not the case.
Sometimes moves just don’t work out for one reason or another or players and teams are just better served moving on, regardless of the financials. Change is a constant in the NFL and with that in mind, here are eight Detroit Lions who could be on the outs heading into the 2019 season.