Campbell: 'We're Gonna Have to Let Go of Some Good Players'

Lions facing much tougher cutdown decisions in Campbell's fourth year.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions are in a much different position heading into the 2024 season than they were when Dan Campbell first took over as head coach.

When Campbell was first given the reins, he inherited a team that had been stripped down to the studs. His first move with general manager Brad Holmes was the big trade that swapped Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff and a plethora of Draft picks.

The roster was not nearly the talent-laden assembly that Detroit has at its disposal in 2024. Whereas the team this year has established stars and plenty of roster locks, the competition was wide open in Campbell's first year.

Now in his fourth year, the coach reflected on the process of trimming that roster down with cuts fast approaching and training camp coming to a close.

With all the depth on roster, the Lions will ultimately be forced to part ways with talented players who are capable of contributing at the professional level.

“It’s changed significantly. I mean, shoot, ’21, we were wide open. Literally wide open," Campbell said. "You had an idea (offensive lineman Penei) Sewell was gonna make it, we drafted him seventh overall. And you have an idea on some of these guys, but there was a whole roster of, ‘We have no idea.’ We don’t know who’s gonna be the next receiver, linebacker position, the D-line. It was wide open. So now here we are, you feel like you’ve tied down most of these spots. We’re gonna have to let go of some good players I think, ultimately, that I think can play in this league at some point at different positions. That’s a hard thing to do. But it also shows where our roster is at to this point. It’s grown a ton. Brad’s done a helluva job.” 

One element of roster cuts that could help the Lions is the ability to retain players on the practice squad. With new rules allowing for the team to also keep up to six veteran players, Detroit could bring back up to 16 players to fill out their practice squad.

When it comes to the strategy of building the practice squad, Campbell admitted that he leans on Holmes to decide which players could clear waivers and return.

“I’ll be honest with you, I lean on Brad with that," Campbell said. "That is 100 percent, I just go to him, I say, ‘What do you think?’ Old wise one, you let me know because I have no idea. He has not missed yet. When he’s told me something, going on four years, he has not missed. I have a lot of trust in what Brad says. For me, that’s where I turn and we’ll go from there.”