Detroit

Lions

It’s a familiar place for the 27-year-old running back. He’ll miss at least the first four weeks of the season. It sounds like former UFL star Jacob Saylors will enter Week 1 as the favorite for whatever portion of the carries Jahmyr Gibbs doesn’t take, not that it figures to be many.

They released him on Sunday, but it was merely roster manipulation as vested veterans aren’t subject to waivers. The 31-year-old should play a role as one of Detroit’s lower-end tight ends behind Sam LaPorta.

Branch ruptured an Achilles tendon in Week 14 last year. He is still recovering. The Lions also placed C Cade Mays (wrist) on the injured reserve/designated for return list due to his summer injury. Both players will be eligible to return after missing four games.

Signed near the end of the opening week of free agency, 31-year-old Conklin couldn’t make the team after a down year for the Chargers in 2025. Although he’s inarguably in decline, Conklin is well-rounded enough that he will porbably make 2026 regular season appearances. Also waived/released by the Lions were DL Myles Adams, LB Joe Bachie, WR Greg Dortch, WR Tom Kennedy LB Amen Ogbongbemiga, LB Troy Reeder, DL Ben Stille, RB Trayveon Williams, QB Luke Altmyer, WR Tarik Black, CB Ekow Boye-Doe, DB Aamaris Brown, OL Devin Cochran, CB Bump Cooper Jr., WR Malik Cunningham, TE Thomas Gordon, OL Gus Hartwig, TE Zach Horton, LB Erick Hunter, S Dan Jackson, WR Lucky Jackson, WR Dominic Lovett, EDGE Anthony Lucas, OG Mason Miller, OG Melvin Priestly, CB Eric Scott Jr., DL Chris Smith, OL Colby Sorsdal, S Jason Taylor II, DL Tyre West, CB Nick Whiteside, RB Roydell Williams and OL Michael Niese.

Joseph is still nursing a knee injury that hampered him last season. He will remain on the PUP list to open the season, meaning he will miss a minimum of four games.

It’s something of a surprise considering Dortch was productive in limited opportunities as a member of the Cardinals from 2021 to 2025. Dortch had 66 receptions and six touchdowns over the past two seasons with Arizona, occassionally drawing a start when the team struggled with wideout injuries. Look for Dortch to catch on with another team in the coming days or weeks as receiver depth.

This is probably forecasting that Pacheco will be doubtful at best for Week 1. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues can speculatively pick up Saylors, who had 17 carries for 100 yards in Detroit’s win over the Colts on Saturday. Saylors led the UFL in rushing in 2024 and finished second in the league in 2025 before signing with the Lions that offseason.

LaPorta’s hip issue no longer appears to be a concern. The 25-year-old has continued practicing as the week progresses. He was out there catching passes from QB Jared Goff during Friday’s scrimmage. LaPorta is a locked-in TE1, playing in what should be one of the NFL’s highest-scoring offenses this season.

This is unfortunate. Turner missed the 2025 season with a ribs injury. Now, a back injury ends his season prematurely. The Lions correspondingly signed CB Eric Scott.

Campbell said the MCL injury isn’t a concern, but he still could not give reporters a definitive answer on Pacheco’s Week 1 availability. The Lions worked out Pacheco’s former teammate Kareem Hunt earlier this week. With Pacheco banged up once again, it would be surprising for the team to sign Hunt ahead of Week 1. At this point, fantasy managers can ignore Pacheco in drafts until we get a better update.