Lions to activate CB Moseley; will he play Week 1?
The Detroit Lions are getting one of the top cornerbacks back on the field, just in time for the regular season.
The Lions activated cornerback Emmanuel Moseley from the physically unable to perform list to the 53-man roster Tuesday, one of 25 moves they made at the roster deadline.
Moseley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last fall while with the San Francisco 49ers and opened training camp on the PUP list after he underwent a surprise followup procedure this summer. He was ticketed for a starting job after signing a one-year free agent deal with the Lions, but will have to work his way back into the playing group with Cam Sutton and Jerry Jacobs.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday the team was meeting to discuss a plan of action for Moseley, who would have been required to miss at least the first four games had he opened the year on PUP.
“He’s close,” Campbell said Monday. “He’s doing well.”
With nine days and four practices until the Lions’ regular season opener Sept. 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Moseley might be hard-pressed to make an impact Week 1.
The Lions have more depth and better talent than they had in their secondary in either of Campbell’s first two seasons as head coach, but finished training camp light at outside cornerback.
Sutton, another free agent addition, and Jacobs are expected to start, with rookie Brian Branch playing slot cornerback and C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Kerby Joseph at safety.
The Lions kept 11 defensive backs on their initial roster, with undrafted rookie Steven Gilmore, converted safety Will Harris and special teams standout Khalil Dorsey playing backup roles at cornerback.
Starling Thomas V, another undrafted rookie who spent most of the summer working with the second-team defense, was among those waived.
Moseley was a starter most of the past four seasons for the 49ers, where he had four interceptions and 33 pass breakups. He’s played more than 12 games in a season just once in his career.
Kicker competition settled
The Lions waived Parker Romo on Tuesday after his camp battle with Riley Patterson, according to NFL Network, though the Lions can’t be enamored with how either performed.
NFL teams had made two kicker trades as of about 1 p.m. Tuesday, and The Athletic reported the Lions were among the teams kicking the tires on available kickers.
The Denver Broncos acquired Wil Lutz in a cut-day trade with the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots sent kicker Nick Folk to the Tennessee Titans, according to multiple reports.
The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers are among other teams in the market for kickers. The 49ers took Michigan’s Jake Moody in the third round of this year’s draft, but Moody’s status for Week 1 is uncertain because of an injury.
The Lions have been looking for a kicker since they said good-bye to Matt Prater in free agency in 2021. Both Patterson and Romo were OK this summer, but neither was consistent enough to pull away with the job.
Romo made his only field goal attempt in the Lions’ preseason-opening win over the New York Giants, then didn’t play the past two exhibition games. Patterson was 3 of 4 on field
goals, but left a 53-yarder short off the crossbar and missed an extra point in last week’s win over the Carolina Panthers.
After the game, Lions coach Dan Campbell insisted he felt good about Patterson’s summer.
“I feel like (Patterson has) been pretty steady and reliable, and I think he just kind of had a rough one today,” Campbell said. “That’s what I’m chalking it up to. Cause he’s really been on it, I feel like for this training camp.”
Two other roster cuts of note: Undrafted safety Brandon Joseph has been waived, and tight end Darrell Daniels has been cut, according to KPRC-TV in Houston. Both players should return on the practice squad.