The Lions are back in the familiar business of scanning practice squads for help, and this time the need is sitting in the secondary.
With safety Avonte Maddox done for the year after a foot injury that will require surgery, and Kerby Joseph plus Brian Branch both on the Physically Unable to Perform list, Detroit’s depth is thin enough that Brad Holmes is once again looking at outside options. The team already added Jalen Mills to the practice squad on Monday, but that still leaves room for more maneuvering before Week 3 against the New York Jets.
Holmes has made a habit of working this lane when injuries hit. In 2024, Detroit dipped into other teams’ practice squads for bodies like Myles Adams, Kwon Alexander and Jonah Williams to stabilize the defense. Last year, the Lions also brought in Jammie Robinson from the Chiefs’ practice squad for a brief run.
There are limits on how this works, of course. Players can be signed off another team’s practice squad to an active roster, but they have to stay on that active roster, or be paid like they’re on it, for at least three weeks. And because teams can’t sign a player off the practice squad of a team they’re facing within six days of the game, the Lions won’t be able to take anyone from the Jets if they decide to make a move this week.
Still, a few names stand out.
One obvious possibility is former Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, now with the Buccaneers. He was a third-round pick in Holmes’ first draft as GM, and he’s already been elevated for Tampa Bay’s first two games.
Injuries never let him settle in during his time in Detroit, where he managed just one full season and 37 total games across four years. Even so, he left behind some real moments, including the division-clinching interception against Minnesota in 2023 and the strong stretch that carried into the postseason that year.
Detroit did not make a major push to keep Melifonwu once his rookie deal ended, but he’d bring immediate scheme familiarity if the Lions wanted a veteran who already knows the system. Tampa Bay also has used two of its three possible elevations on him, so he could be available if the Buccaneers don’t see a bigger role ahead.
Another familiar face is DeShon Hallett, who spent parts of two seasons with the Lions before Tennessee claimed him at the end of last year. He didn’t make the Titans’ roster out of camp, but he has been elevated in both of their games.
Hallett also knows Detroit’s defensive setup and appeared in three games last season during Kelvin Sheppard’s first year as defensive coordinator. He was part of the team’s “Legion of Whom” effort against the Buccaneers and logged 119 defensive snaps over those three appearances.
If Detroit wants to go younger, Ty Wisniewski is the name to watch. The Eagles’ seventh-round pick didn’t make their roster out of camp, which makes him available. His college résumé is plenty strong: he started at North Dakota State, won two FCS national championships and earned First Team All-American honors in 2023 before finishing at Texas Tech, where he started every game and posted an 83.9 PFF overall defensive grade.
Wisniewski also saw the field in one preseason game for Philadelphia this year, playing 20 snaps and earning a 68.6 defensive grade against the Patriots.
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Detroit got plenty more from the younger side of the roster, with Hao-Yu Lee, Eduardo Valencia, Javier Bez, Spencer Torkelson and Ben Malgeri all factoring into the victory. It was also a day with some off-field news, as the club announced its ballpark will be renamed Fifth Third Field beginning in 2027, but on this night the more immediate takeaway was simple: the Tigers added another useful performance to a run that keeps building anticipation for what their staff could look like once Skubal returns. [Read more 🡒]