ESPN: Lions dismissed former second-round pick two months after resigning him.

Due to the abundance of defensive lineman choices available to the Detroit Lions, a player they recently re-signed this offseason has been listed as a cut or trade possibility.

At defensive tackle, the Detroit Lions now have a wide range of alternatives.

This summer, they added Roy Lopez and re-signed Levi Onwuzurike to ensure that.

However, their prospective needs beyond the 2025 season were not adequately addressed by those two one-year contracts.

In light of this, the Lions selected defensive lineman Tyleik Williams with their first-round choice.

That has made things even more congested at the post and might have some of the veterans wondering their job security.

Pro Football and Sports Networks’ Sterling Xie says Onwuzurike should be especially concerned.

Onwuzurike was mentioned by Xie in a recent piece as a player the Lions may cut or trade this winter.

I find it difficult to understand how the Lions might use this.

Indeed, the Lions will need to cut ties with at least one defensive tackle before the season starts because they currently have too many of them to fit into their defensive rotation.

It doesn’t appear probable that they will move on from Onwuzurike.

Releasing him after June 1 only saves $721 thousand of the $4.22 million cap hit he carries from a contract he signed in March.

It doesn’t make sense for a team that won’t invest the funds to acquire a starting edge rusher to spend $3.5 million on a guy who will only be used during the preseason.

Additionally, Onwuzurike just finished his finest NFL season to date. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 61% of the Lions’ snaps in 2024 and finished 15th among defensive tackles with 45 pressures.

To outperform D.J. Reader as a cut candidate, he would have to drastically decline.

If the Lions decide to release Reader after June 1st, they might save $11.7 million. Additionally, Reader was less productive while on the field and played fewer snaps than Onwuzurike (53%).

A defensive tackle who is now on the Lions’ depth chart and won’t be in September is nearly a given. It just won’t be Onwuzurike, in my opinion.