Detroit Lions Cut Roster Down to 53 Players

As the Detroit Lions made their roster cuts to get down to the league maximum of 53 players today, there were a couple cuts that were surprising.

Throughout the preseason it was believed that Gosder Cherilus and Jon Jansen were competing for the starting job at Right Tackle. So it was not expected that either would get cut. Sometimes what happens is not what is expected. The Lions proved that when they cut Jon Jansen.

Tight End Dan Gronkowski was expected to be cut, but the Lions instead traded him to the Denver Broncos for a player they were going to cut, Cornerback, Alphonso Smith. This trade seems to be the move that set up for the Lions other surprising cut. With the addition of Alphonso Smith, the Lions decided that it made veteran cornerback, Dre Bly expendable and he was also cut today.

Besides Jon Jansen and Dre Bly, other cuts consisted of the following.....
DT - Rob Calloway
DT - Landon Cohen
LB - Vinny Ciurciu
WR - Tim Toone
WR - Brian Clark
WR - Michael Moore
RB - DeDe Dorsey
OL - Noah Franklin
OL - Dan Gerberry
OL - Cliff Louis
K - Steven Hauschka
DB - Ko Simpson
DB - Jonathan Hefney
DB - Eric King
DB - Paul Pratt
DB - T.J. Rushing
DB - Dante Wesley