Information Sourced From: Nolan Bianchi, Tom Pelissero (2)
News around the Lions initial 53 man roster has been slow. Let’s dig in on some of the key cuts/waives that have happened thus far and how they may impact the Lions roster moving forward!
Greg Dortch Cut
Greg Dortch has been cut from the Lions roster. Now, if you read around, literally every person who is covering the Lions is surprised by this move. All words out of camp were about how shifty he is and how well he acclimated with Goff. A worthy Kalif Raymond successor. I expect this is a part of roster gymnastics, they are likely cutting Dortch, to allow the roster to be established, to then place players on IR to free up spots, to then re-sign Dortch. I fully expect him back.
Nick Whiteside, Pride of SVSU, Cut
This one really caught me off guard. By all accounts Nick Whiteside has played well. I suppose this could be a second case of roster gymnastics, but for some reason it doesn’t feel like it. Perhaps the Lions will try to stash him on the practice squad? Given that they have some questions in the defensive back room, I can’t help but scratch my head at this one. And I really doubt he makes it to the practice squad in the first place, unless of course they have a “gentlemans agreement”.
Lions Waive Luke Altmyer
Before preseason game 3, I would have been surprised by this move (see my 53 man roster prediction from prior to preseason game 3). However, Dobbs really turned in a good performance in game 3 and moved himself firmly ahead of Altmyer. Conversely Altmyer showed why it can be concerning to have a rookie as a backup, with long read times and costly turnovers. The word from Tom Pelissero that the Lions want him back on their practice squad should be no surprise though: There is something there, it just needs to continue to develop.
It’s gonna be a wild 48 hours, stay with Silver & Blues for Lions news and analysis as we march towards the Lions final 53 man roster being established.
We won't see the "final" roster until a few days before the big game.