By Mike Payton |
After the 2025 NFL Draft, we talked a little bit about how the draft could affect some veterans’ starting jobs, and we also talked about how some players could get released. With the latter on the remind, today we want to talk about the players the Lions probably aren’t giving up on despite the draft. Let’s jump into it.
S Morice Norris
To us, Norris is Diet Brian Branch. You didn’t get to see a lot of him in his rookie year, but we think you’re going to start seeing a lot more of him in 2025. The Diet Brian Branch thing comes from Norris’s ability to play safety and inside and outside cornerback.
That versatility is going to give him a shot to nab a roster spot in 2025. You should expect him to fight for that fourth safety spot and show that he can win it with the versatility and good special-teams play.
C Kingsley Eguakun
Last year, we flat-out said that he could be the heir apparent to Frank Ragnow, and we’re not ready to move off that just yet. The Linos gave Eguakun a lot of opportunities to show what he could do last year, and he earned a practice squad spot because of it. There was some thought that he could sneak onto the 53-man roster before that happened.
Ragnow isn’t getting any younger, and while Lions GM Brad Holmes did say there would be some cross-training at center with rookies Tate Ratledge and Miles Frazier, Eguakun has all the experience at center and has a shot to land a spot on this roster in 2025.
DL Mekhi Wingo
There probably weren’t any expectations that the Lions would give up on Wingo, but just in case, we’re adding him to this list. The Tyleik Williams selection isn’t going to change Wingo’s standing with the team.
While the Lions do have a lot of interior defensive linemen, we still think there’s a chance that the plan with Wingo was always to be on the edge. He’s undersized in the middle, and his pass-rush ability just makes him make more sense there.
LB Trevor Nowaske
Yeah, the Lions didn’t draft a linebacker this year, but what they did do was put a lot of money into Derrick Barnes, who plays that SAM linebacker role. The same role Nowaske filled in for during the 2024 season.
He did it really well at times. He’s not going to start there going forward, but he’s a guy that has special-teams ability and can rotate in at times. There’s just no reason to move on here.
