The Lions dropped a player from their active roster on Friday.
They announced that they have released defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike. Onwuzurike would have been guaranteed his entire salary for the season if he was on the roster for Week 1, so a return after the Lions face the Saints could be in the cards.
Onwuzurike was a second-round pick for Detroit in 2021, but he’s missed two of the last five seasons with injuries. A back injury kept him out in 2022 and he missed all of last season with a torn ACL.
When healthy, Onwuzurike has 68 tackles, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble in 42 regular season appearances. He also has five tackles in four playoff games.
The Lions also announced that they have signed defensive lineman Tyre West to their practice squad.
Lions Clips
When Saints running back Alvin Kamara sprained his MCL in mid-August, there was word that he would miss about a month because of the injury.
Kamara could wind up in the lineup at the short end of that window. Kamara returned to practice this week and head coach Kellen Moore called him questionable to face the Lions in Detroit on Sunday.
Travis Etienne will be making his Saints debut and the free agent’s arrival in March clouded Kamara’s future with the team. He wound up signing a revised contract to remain with the team in July, however, and he’ll give the Saints a pair of options at running back if he is ready to go this weekend.
Defensive end Cam Jordan (hamstring) was ruled out earlier in the week, but reporters at Friday’s practice sent word that he was back on the field. Tight end Oscar Delp (hamstring) and running back Audric Estime (thigh) will also miss the game.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said on Wednesday that wide receiver Tom Kennedy would have a role in Sunday’s game against the Saints and that comment foreshadowed a roster move on Thursday.
The team announced that they have signed Kennedy to the 53-man roster. Kennedy was on the practice squad and the Lions had an open spot, so there was no need for a corresponding move.
Kennedy has been with the Lions since 2019 and has bounced between the practice squad and active roster a number of times. He has 18 catches for 231 yards in 30 career games.
Kennedy has also seen time as a returner and that is likely the area where he’ll contribute to the Lions’ cause in the opener.
Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs is a popular choice as the first overall pick in fantasy drafts, and he thinks he’s the right choice.
Asked if he would draft himself if he had the No. 1 pick in a fantasy league, Gibbs answered, “For sure, yeah. That’s easy.”
Gibbs said he’s aware of the spotlight on him from fantasy players, many of whom are banking on him to have a very big year.
“It’s cool,” Gibbs said. “I’m either going to make a lot of people happy or mad, so we’ll see.”
The Lions traded David Montgomery away this offseason, leaving no doubt that Gibbs will be the focal point of the running game, but he downplayed how much his role will change.
“I guess I’m getting most of the carries but it’s nothing I haven’t done before,” Gibbs said.
The Lions made Gibbs the highest-paid running back in the league this offseason, and they’re expecting him to be better than ever. So are fantasy owners.
Saints defensive end Cam Jordan’s final NFL season will start with him on the sideline.
Head coach Kellen Moore said at his Wednesday press conference that Jordan will not play against the Lions in Week 1. Jordan hurt his hamstring in early August and is not ready to return to action at this point.
There was better news about another longtime Saint. Running back Alvin Kamara returned to practice after missing the last few weeks with an MCL injury. Moore said that Kamara was a limited participant and that the team will see how he responds as they make plans moving forward.
Tight end Oscar Delp (hamstring) and running back Audric Estime (thigh) were also out of practice for the Saints.
The Buffalo Bills will be opening their new home with a special welcome to their neighbors from the north.
Yes, near the shores of Lake Ontario, an American football team will play the Canadian national anthem before kickoff of a game.
The Bills have announced that both anthems will be played prior to the start of next Thursday night’s showdown with the Lions. It comes at a time when tensions are high between the respectve governments over trade issues, but when the citizens of the two countries have little or no real animosity between them.
Canada has been our next-door neighbor for a very long time. And most Americans are wired to act neighborly. In this specific instance, the Bills are making a very neighborly gesture.
Still,it’s just a matter of time before someone who once wanted to buy the Bills has something to say about this. In all caps. Perhaps with a dash of AI slop. Before thanking us for our attention to this matter.
A year ago, Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson was preparing for his first game after suffering a broken leg that prematurely ended his 2024 season.
Hutchinson then delivered his best season yet, recording 14.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, 35 quarterback hits, an interception, and four forced fumbles.
He earned his second Pro Bowl selection, was an AP second-team All-Pro, and finished No. 2 in AP comeback player of the year voting.
What’s in store for 2026?
“I think he’s in a really good spot right now,” head coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday, via transcript from the team. “I think he’s always been, in my opinion, a complete defensive end, and he’s elevated that once again. I think last year, what he was able to do coming off the injury he had was impressive. I mean, it was impressive because that’s a significant injury. The good news is it was a bone, but that’s not like the fibula, the small bone on the ankle, all that — this is a significant injury. And for him to be able to come back as quick as he did and be able to have the impact he did was impressive.
“Well, he just got another year of a full offseason training, just man, the quickness, the weight, the explosion — he’s always continued to grow his craft. And so, I think he’s prepped to have another big year.”
The No. 2 overall pick of the 2022 draft, Hutchinson has registered 43.0 sacks, 44 tackles for loss, and 100 QB hits in his 56 career games.
The Lions will start the season at home against the Saints on Sunday afternoon.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford surpassed Dan Marino for No. 7 on the all-time passing touchdown list late last season. Up next is Philip Rivers.
Stafford currently has 423 career touchdown passes, which puts him two behind Rivers, who threw for 425 touchdowns in his career.
If Stafford throws three touchdown passes on Thursday night against the 49ers, he’ll have 426 in his career, and he’ll be No. 6 on the all-time list.
Stafford has thrown 141 touchdown passes in five years with the Rams after throwing 282 touchdown passes in 12 years with the Lions. Rivers threw 397 touchdown passes in 16 years with the Chargers, then threw 24 more in 2020 with the Colts, then came out of retirement and threw four more touchdown passes in 2025 with the Colts. If Rivers hadn’t come out of retirement last year, Stafford already would have surpassed his total.
The Top 5 in passing touchdowns in NFL history are Tom Brady with 649, Drew Brees with 571, Peyton Manning with 539, Aaron Rodgers with 527 and Brett Favre with 508.
When Ben Johnson departed the Lions in 2025 to become the Bears head coach, the Lions replaced him with John Morton.
Midway through November, head coach Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties. Morton was then dismissed after the season ended.
The club took a different approach to revamping its offense in the 2026 offseason, hiring Drew Petzing as coordinator. While Morton had previously been with the Lions as a senior offensive assistant under Campbell, Petzing — who served as the Cardinals’ OC from 2023-2025 — did not have those ties to the organization.
On Monday, Campbell said Petzing and quarterback Jared Goff have forged a solid partnership as the beginning of the season approaches.
“I think just their ability to work with each other and I feel like pull the best out of each other, if you will,” Campbell said in his press conference when asked what he’s liked about the connection between the two men. “I think Drew brings clarity in some areas, which is good and that’s always going to help Goff. But, I think at the same time, Goff has these things that he sees, that he likes, that we’re capable of doing with what we have. And he knows he can do it, to where Drew is open to those and we’ve used some of those.
“I think that’s a good thing, man, because I think that’s how you don’t stay stale, man. You continue to grow and with where our quarterback is, playing at a high level to be able to continue to test him and push him but also allow input and allow him to do things that even though it may be a little new, a new wrinkle that he feels comfortable trying, it’s a good thing. And then in regard to something Drew wants, he may not love it, but he’s willing to go and give it a go. I think that expands his own horizon. I just think it’s a good give and take, and I think those guys to this point have worked really well together.”
The Lions will open the season at home against the Saints on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
The Lions have filled one of the openings on their active roster.
They announced that they have signed linebacker Joe Bachie off of their practice squad. Bachie spent the offseason and preseason with the team and signed to the practice squad after failing to make the initial 53-man roster in Detroit.
Bachie opened last season with the Colts and started five games before landing on injured reserve. He moved on to the Titans after being released and played in 10 more games on special teams. He finished the year with 29 tackles and had 48 tackles in 51 games for the Bengals and Eagles earlier in his career.
The Lions still have one open spot on the 53-man roster after waiving center Seth McLaughlin and running back Jabari Small last week. They announced that both those players have been signed to the practice squad on Monday.
