The Detroit Lions have begun cutting their roster down to 53 players and one of the most notable names to reportedly get the boot thus far is veteran wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones.
According to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, DPJ will be among the players the Lions part ways with ahead of the cutdown deadline on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. By the way, you can check out our live tracker for every player who is cut.
On the surface, this would seem like a surprise considering how thin the Lions are at the wide receiver position, especially when it comes to experienced options. It was assumed DPJ would easily grab a spot and a role as a result of that.
However, if you've been following along this offseason, the Lions cutting him loose isn't a surprise at all.
That's because Peoples-Jones never really managed to stand out, whether that be at practice or during the preseason. It even got to a point where head coach Dan Campbell publicly urged him to step up.
"He's a guy I expect more out of too, and he knows that," Campbell said of Peoples-Jones, per Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News. "Now, he's working, he works at it, man. He wants it, but we just need him to take another step here."
It appeared that Peoples-Jones was turning a corner after Campbell noted he had been showing more, but clearly that more wasn't enough for the Lions to keep him.
While the move isn't surprising, it does reinforce that the Lions desperately need to add help at the position. After all, they never adequately replaced Josh Reynolds and there are nothing but question marks outside of Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Sure, Jameson Williams has had a good offseason, but we still don't know what he's going to look like once the games count. Kalif Raymond is slated to be the No. 3 wide receiver, but he's hardly an every-down boundary option and is more of a solid fourth receiver to be utilized in different ways in the offense.
Look for general manager Brad Holmes to take action in the coming days and week-plus before the season starts. It's hard to imagine Detroit entering the 2024 campaign with what they currently have.
