Getty Lions safety Jayron Kearse lines up a tackle.
The Detroit Lions have suffered through a tough season in 2020, and the team continues to make moves designed to shake things up on the field.
This week, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Lions will release safety Jayron Kearse from the roster. The move comes as a surprise, considering the team had signed Kearse this offseason and were trying to get him into the defense this year. Either way, Kearse is set to become a free agent after this season and now could have his pick of preferred landing spots for where he plays the rest of 2020.
The #Lions have informed starting safety Jayron Kearse of his release, source said, and he’ll go on waivers today. The former Viking started 7 games in Detroit with 59 tackles. An experienced DB who could potentially help a contender in the playoffs.
Though Kearse was seen as a solid signing by the team this offseason when he inked a one year deal that was worth $2.75 million dollars, Kearse himself has been in and out of the lineup. Most recently, Kearse was benched as a healthy scratch for the game this past Saturday, but had played plenty for Detroit this season. He is an impending free agent, and it’s possible Detroit’s reasoning for the move revolves around getting others young safeties in the mix the rest of the way.
Jayron Kearse Could Appeal to Contender
The obvious question in situations like this is what’s next for the player. Obviously, Kearse is a guy who could make an impact for someone and should immediately draw some interest as a free agent. Defensive backs are a key position in the mix for the postseason in the NFL, and Kearse has been decently productive this season given his up and down production. 59 tackles was sill a very decent number for Kearse and he is an aggressive player who plays tough on the field and flies around to the ball. To that end, he could be a welcome addition for another team’s defense.
Jayron Kearse Statistics
Coming into the league out of Clemson as a seventh-round pick, Kearse was well decorated during his time with the Tigers as a first team ACC player in 2014 and 2015. In the NFL, Kearse has put up decent stats with 79 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 interception and 8 passes defended. He started his career with the Minnesota Vikings before landing in Detroit as a free agent. Kearse hasn’t played a huge role to this point in his career, but it was expected that with the Lions, he was going to get a chance to do plenty of things within their scheme and show why he’s a great player. That never materialized according to Detroit with this move.
Kearse hasn’t played a huge role all of this season, but it’s important to remember he was shelved with a suspension for the first three games of 2020. He returned in Week 4, and put up a decent 59 tackles since, making this move particularly interesting given his status as a productive player lately.
Detroit doesn’t have a full-time general manager, and this is yet another personnel decision the team is making without clear direction at the helm, which is very interesting to note indeed.
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