Entering this weekend, a lot of pundits wondered how the Detroit Lions would handled cornerback on roster cutdown day. As it turned out, the position produced one of the more surprising roster cuts of Sunday for the team.
The Detroit News’ Nolan Bianchi reported Sunday evening the Lions cut cornerback Nick Whiteside. Bianchi proposed the idea of Whiteside returning to the team, but he won’t be on Detroit’s initial 53-man roster.
“Lions have cut CB Nick Whiteside, per source,” wrote Bianchi. “He’s a candidate to return to the practice squad.”
Whiteside appeared to be trending toward a roster spot early in training camp. However, he didn’t do as well in the second half of August and had a rough Week 2 in the preseason.
The surprise of releasing Whiteside could subside with the cornerback returning on the practice squad. Still, pundits were surprised the Lions secure Whiteside on the team’s active roster Sunday.
“Early in camp, Whiteside was one of the best cornerbacks on the field. He went from the bottom of the depth chart to earning some reps with the first-team defense, and he didn’t look out of place,” wrote SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit’s Jeremy Reisman. “However, some of that momentum slowed toward the end of training camp. In recent days, Whiteside had dropped back to safety to help out a very injured back end of the roster.
“However, that versatility wasn’t apparently enough to win him a spot on the initial 53-man roster.”
Lions Release CB Nick Whiteside: Report
That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the reaction Whiteside’s cut provided among Detroit pundits and fans.
Other analysts shared their surprise on social media.
“Given how much work he’d seen with first-team, really felt like he was tracking toward CB3 in mid-August,” wrote Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers.
“Wow Lions cut Whiteside,” wrote Motor City media. “Hoping a waiver claim or trade is coming bc Rakestraw as CB3 is [trash can emoji].”
“There has to be a move coming at outside corner, no? Whiteside earned a spot,” wrote a fan.
“Have no clue what he doing,” wrote another fan. “We need secondary help and Nick Whiteside was cooking all preseason,”
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As of 6:30 pm ET, the Lions still hadn’t formally announced their final roster cuts. The deadline to make the cuts was 6 pm ET.
But without Whiteside on the roster, it’s likely the Lions went with other veterans and a couple young players with potentially more upside.
D.J. Reed and Rock Ya-Sin will enter the season as the team’s starting cornerbacks. Former second-round pick Ennis Rakestraw will be the slot cornerback, but Detroit also still has veterans Roger McCreary and Khalil Dorsey.
Again, it has yet to be confirmed as of this writing that McCreary and Dorsey are on the roster. McCreary was a popular cut candidate leading up to this weekend.
But with no Whiteside, McCreary probably has a place on the initial 53-man roster.
Fifth-round rookie Keith Abney II also impressive throughout the summer. Abney could play a significant role going forward. The Lions might have let go of Whiteside to prevent him from blocking the Day 3 rookie from receiving playing.
Whiteside played nine games for the Lions last season. In those contests, he lined up for 51 defensive snaps and 71 snaps on special teams.
He entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2023 for the Washington Commanders. Whiteside appeared in two contests as a rookie that season too.
Lions Turn Heads With Veteran CB Release: Report