Lions Clips
The Lions created a pair of openings on their 53-man roster on Wednesday.
They announced that they have waived running back Jabari Small and center Seth McLaughlin.
Small’s departure comes after Isiah Pacheco was placed on injured reserve and leaves the team with Jahmyr Gibbs, Jacob Saylors, and Sione Vaki at running back. Small signed with the Titans after going undrafted in 2024 and spent time on Detroit’s practice squad last year, but has never appeared in a regular season game.
McLaughlin was behind Juice Scruggs on the team’s offensive line depth chart. He spent last season on the Bengals’ practice squad.
The Lions could look to bolster their receiving corps with one of the open spots. They currently have four players at that position.
Former NFL assistant coach Kippy Brown died this week, Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle reports. Brown was 71.
Brown spent 22 seasons as an NFL assistant, coaching for seven different teams. His final job was the wide receivers coach with the Seahawks on Pete Carroll’s staff from 2010-14. The Seahawks’ win in Super Bowl XLVIII gave Brown his only Super Bowl ring.
Brown was Jimmy Johnson’s offensive coordinator for two seasons with the Dolphins and served as the Lions’ associate head coach under Rod Marinelli during Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. He interviewed for the Texans’ head coaching job in 2006 after Dom Capers was fired, but Houston hired Gary Kubiak instead.
Brown coached Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson in his four seasons in Houston.
In addition to the Dolphins, Seahawks, Lions and Texans, Brown also coached with the Bucs, Jets and Packers.
Brown was head coach of the Memphis Maniax in the short-lived XFL in 2001.
As a player, Brown became the first Black quarterback to play at Memphis during his time there from 1974-77.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said last week that he couldn’t say anything “definitive” about running back Isiah Pacheco’s status for Week 1, but the picture cleared up on Tuesday.
The Lions announced that Pacheco has been placed on injured reserve. Pacheco dealt with a sprained MCL earlier this summer, but Campbell indicated a back injury is the greater concern at the moment.
No matter the main ailment, Pacheco will miss at least four games as a result of Tuesday’s move. Jacob Saylors is now in line to be the No. 2 back behind Jahmyr Gibbs for the first month of the season.
The Lions filled the open roster spot by signing tight end Tyler Conklin. Conklin was released on Sunday.
Guard Elijah Klein and wide receiver Dominic Lovett joined the practice squad in other moves.
The Seahawks finally signed cornerback Terrion Arnold, more than two weeks after agreeing to a deal with him. The league, as expected, promptly placed Arnold on paid leave.
The administrative move flows from eight felony charges against Arnold, arising from an alleged kidnapping and armed robbery that happened earlier this year in Florida.
On Sunday, Seahawks G.M. John Schneider was asked about the factors the team considered in signing the 2024 first-round pick.
“There is a ton of different factors that went into it,” Schneider told reporters. “Obviously, the legal stuff has to take care of itself, and we totally respect that. There are tons of different buckets to this situation. Just the advocates that we had, you know. We traded for Leon Washington the first year that we were here, and he’s basically like his father. Leon [Washington] will always be a legend here, and he has a great relationship with the organization.
“The character just didn’t really fit with the allegations and everybody we’ve talked to. But yes, there’s a long-term play. This isn’t a, ‘Let’s see how quickly we can get this done.’ Let’s get him in the building and see how it goes.”
Still, the allegations aren’t pretty. Schneider himself has called them “shocking.” He also has admitted that, if Arnold had been on the Seahawks roster when the allegations came to light, they “probably” would have had to release him.
With the allegations still unresolved, it’s hard to understand why, if the allegations would have compelled the Seahawks to cut Arnold, they were comfortable signing him.
This isn’t a second chance. The aftermath of first chance still lingers; Arnold hasn’t had his day in court.
If Arnold is convicted, he’ll likely never play for the Seahawks. If he agrees to a plea deal and satisfies its terms, then it will be time for a second chance.
Frankly, this seems to be a wager by the Seahawks. They’re willing to pay him not to play so that they’ll have a relationship in place with him if/when the case is resolved and he’s able to play.
For now, Arnold remains entitled to all constitutional protections. He gets his day in court. Still, until the allegations are resolved, they are (as Schneider said) “shocking.” It’s hard to imagine the league letting Arnold play until the criminal case is completely wrapped up with something other than a guilty verdict and a lengthy prison sentence.
The Lions will open the season with two safeties on the physically unable to perform list.
Their release of their initial 53-man roster confirmed that Kerby Joseph will miss at least the first four games while dealing with a knee issue. The team also announced that Brian Branch will stay on the PUP list while returning from a torn Achilles.
Offensive lineman Giovanni Manu will also miss at least four games while on the non-football injury list. Center Cade Mays landed on the injured reserve list.
In addition to those moves, the Lions have waived or released DL Myles Adams, LB Joe Bachie, TE Tyler Conklin, 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, DE Anthony Lucas, G Mason Miller, G 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.
The Lions will not have one of their key defenders early on in the 2026 season.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that safety Kerby Joseph is being moved to the reserve/physically unable to perform list, which means he will be out for at least the season’s first four weeks.
Joseph has been sidelined by a degenerative knee condition that also kept him out for much of last season. Joseph was only able to play six games in 2025, recording 18 total tackles with three interceptions.
Joseph was an AP first-team All-Pro selection in 2024 when he recorded a league-leading nine interceptions.
The Lions came into the summer with a plan for Isiah Pacheco to be their No. 2 running back behind Jahmyr Gibbs, but Pacheco has dealt with multiple injuries this month and that may lead them in a different direction.
Jacob Saylors ran 17 times for 100 yards in Saturday’s preseason finale and he had 14 carries for 87 yards in the team’s other two games. It is Year 2 for Saylors in Detroit, but he only played eight offensive snaps while seeing regular time on special teams in his 15 appearances.
The offensive action may have been limited, but head coach Dan Campbell said on Saturday that Saylors’s experience in the system leaves him comfortable about moving forward with him in the backup role.
“I am,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I’m comfortable with those guys. And I just like the thought of having a guy in our system, think that’s important. Knows our terminology, knows our guys, knows the protections. Just kind of knows it all, man. Understands our quarterback and how he thinks. I just think that’s important.”
Pacheco added a back injury to a sprained MCL recently and his status for Week 1 is up in the air. If he can’t go, Saylors is in line for a chance to build on the positive impression he made in the preseason.
The growing trend of NFL teams keeping their quarterbacks out of the preseason has reached the point where more than one-third of starting quarterbacks did not take a single snap in this year’s preseason.
The reasons were different for different teams: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Colts quarterback Daniel Jones are recovering from season-ending injuries. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson haven’t played in the preseason in years, across multiple coaching staffs. Rams coach Sean McVay is perhaps the most cautious coach in the league when it comes to avoiding preseason injuries, so of course reigning MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t play.
But the result is the same: If you’re tuning into a preseason game, you’re increasingly likely to see backup quarterbacks exclusively, and if you see a starter at all, it will typically only be for a series or two.
Here’s the full list of teams that didn’t play their starting quarterbacks at all this preseason, via Mike Reiss of ESPN:
Seahawks: Sam Darnold.
Patriots: Drake Maye.
Cowboys: Dak Prescott.
Ravens: Lamar Jackson.
Steelers: Aaron Rodgers.
Colts: Daniel Jones.
Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence.
Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes.
Eagles: Jalen Hurts.
Lions: Jared Goff.
Saints: Tyler Shough.
Rams: Matthew Stafford.
Lions kicker Jake Bates did not finish the preseason strong on Saturday. Lions coach Dan Campbell is not concerned.
Bates did not attempt any field goals in the Lions’ preseason finale but did attempt three extra points, missing two of them. Bates is the only kicker on the Lions’ roster, so he’s in no danger of getting cut, and Campbell said the Lions have full confidence in him.
“No, I’m not worried about Bates. He just pushed them a little bit. He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine,” Campbell said.
Bates also missed a field goal in last week’s preseason game, and he wasn’t as good in 2025 as he was in 2024, when the Lions signed him out of the United Football League and he became one of the NFL’s best kickers. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for the Lions to have some concerns at kicker heading into the season, but Campbell insists he doesn’t.
The Seahawks have made it official.
Seattle announced the club has signed cornerback Terrion Arnold on Saturday.
Arnold is now expected to be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list. Arnold will be paid while on the list, but he will not be eligible to play.
Arnold, a Lions first-round pick in 2024, was waived in June after his arrest. He faces four felony counts each of armed robbery and kidnapping.
While the Seahawks struck an agreement with Arnold weeks ago, they waited until roster cuts to officially bring him on.
In 24 games over his first two seasons, Arnold has registered 18 passes defensed with one interception. It’s unclear when he will be available to play for Seattle now that he has joined the club.
As a corresponding move, Seattle waived offensive tackle Derrick Graham.
All rosters must be down to 53 players by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
