The Detroit Lions have some decisions to make regarding their roster in the next few weeks. Several key players are set to return and bolster the roster, which would make this team incredibly deep at every position. Sitting at 5-2 during their bye week, the Lions seem to be getting healthy at the right spots at the right time to make that Superbowl push. While the bye would have been nice to have a week or two later than it was, the team was banged up.

The Lions announced that LB Malcolm Rodriguez should begin practicing when the team resumes activities next week. That’s one spot that will have to be opened up. The question is, whose spot does he take?

That’s just one of the many questions that are going to pop up in the next few weeks. Let’s go down the list of players who will/should return at some point this season. The Lions have used two of the allowed eight “designated to return” slots with Alim McNeil (PUP) and Brian Branch (suspension).

The other players are:

CB D.J Reed

DL Marcus Davenport

DL Josh Paschal

LB Malcolm Rodriguez

OL Miles Frazier

OL Giovanni Manu

TE Shane Zylstra

DB Daniel Thomas

LB Zach Cunningham

And let’s not forget the other missing piece….Ahmed Hassanein, who’s currently a free agent on an injury settlement. Once he is healthy, his return to the practice squad (they can’t use the international exemption for him because it would prohibit him from being signed to the active roster) and eventually the main roster is inevitable.

That’s nine players that should, could or are expected to return. There’s only 6 designations left. And one free agent that will be brought back at some point. The Lions have to be very careful and strategic with their moves here. First, who do they feel needs to come back and is vital to helping the team make that push? Second, who does that player push off the roster to the practice squad and/or potentially lose to another team if they claim them on waivers. Now, the Lions have ways to manipulate the roster before the trade deadline.

A veteran player (four or more years) is not subject to the waiver wire BEFORE the deadline. Meaning, they can’t be claimed. Once the deadline passes, every player released or waived is subject to the waiver wire.

So, the options are clear if they make a move prior to the deadline. With eleven DL, the two clear choices here are Quinton Jefferson (32 yrs old) and Pat O’Conner (31 yrs old). Jefferson hasn’t made a peep since being signed and O’Conner has not played as well as last year.

The two players that could replace them would be Marcus Davenport and Josh Paschal.

Now let’s face it, Davenport needs to be as close to 100% as possible otherwise we are right back in the same boat. He won’t start practicing until after the bye anyway and his return is expected to be late November or early December. With Al-Quadin Muhammad establishing himself as the best option opposite of Hutchinson, the Lions don’t need to rush his return.

With Paschal nobody knows what is actually going on and the Lions have been very quiet about him. But when/if he does return, he will definitely be a welcome addition to the rotation.

The biggest question about these two is, do they NEED them and want to spend two designations on them or are there players elsewhere that are more important. Remember, the Lions have Wheat, Lacy and Wingo. Of those three, the most expendable is Lacy. So you could move off of him to bring back Davenport or Paschal also and save the moves with O’Conner and Jefferson for another player like say, DJ Reed. They could also release one of them to make room for Ahmed Hassanein after he’s used up his three practice squad elevations

Right now, even with Reed coming back, there is no one that should be cut and exposed to the risk of being claimed, at least in the CB department. Maddox once healthy will slip right back into his role, playing nickle and safety. Arthur Maulet and Nick Whiteside earned the right to stay and show that can continue to make plays and be strong backend players.

Your seven CBs would be:

DJ Reed

Terrion Arnold

Amik Robertson

Avonte Maddox

Rock Ya-Sin

Nick Whiteside

Arthur Maulet

That’s not bad at all and its a CB room most teams would be envious of. The safety position is where it would make the most sense move someone. The two options here are Jammie Robinson and Erick Hallett. With the comments that Brad Holmes had his eyes on Robinson for a while, it makes sense that Hallett would be the odd man out. It stinks because he’s played well and the coaches like him but the numbers don’t work in his favor. He definitely would see some call ups from the PS though.

Malcolm Rodriguez is the interesting one because the entire LB group is playing well and none of them are leaving. Adding Rodriguez would make that 5 LBs and again, the three DL and one safety would be the roster moves to make here. A surprise move to make would be releasing RB Jacob Saylors or shutting down Vaki for the year by placing him on IR. Having five RBs doesn’t make much sense, especially when Vaki has missed so much time and Saylors is only returning kicks.

Another interesting dilemma is with Miles Frazier and Giovanni Manu. I don’t think Manu is coming back this year. With Deckers shoulder becoming a concern more and more, I could be wrong. But I don’t think the Lions are in a position to spend a designation and then place the pressure of being the LT for a superbowl contender on him.

With Frazier, they would definitely want to see what they have with him and get him work. They have the 21 day window to see if they want to spend not only a designation on him but a roster spot as well. If you’re looking position for position, Colon and Awosika are the ones. But they’ve been the depth all year. You’d have to be very comfortable with Frazier to throw him there and put either one of them on the PS.

That leaves Shane Zylstra, Zach Cunningham and Daniel Thomas. I don’t think Cunningham comes back, he’s done well in his limited snaps but the LB room with Rodriguez coming back is set. Cunningham was a filler anyway.

Shane Zylstra, if the Lions feel he can add something more, then Ross Dwelley is the obvious choice. Is Shane important enough or does Dwelley continue to handle it?

Ahmed Hassanein is an interesting one. He was making a strong case to make the final 53 man roster and get significant reps until a pec injury put him on IR and eventually released with an injury settlement. At the time fans were upset and confused but with the agreement that he’d be back once healed and the explanation that it would keep the Lions from using up a designation, those concerns disappeared.

Daniel Thomas adds a special teams aspect but he’s been out almost the entire time he’s been here. The secondary has played well without him so there’s no rush to bring him back and just save him for competition next season. Unless you feel he could add more to special teams or use the depth at DB…he most likely stays on IR.

What do the Lions do? Nine players and six designations to use. What six players are brought back? What three stay down. What six players are replaced?

My final thoughts:

Players that will be designated to return:

DJ Reed

Malcolm Rodriguez

Marcus Davenport

Miles Frazier

Josh Paschal

Free Agent that will be added

Ahmed Hassanein

Players potentially released and added to the PS

Pat O’Conner

Quinton Jefferson

Tyler Lacy

Erick Hallett

Ross Dwelley

Jacob Saylors

Potentially placed on IR

Sione Vaki