Lions Release Defensive End Jared DeVries

Defensive end Jared DeVries was released by the Lions on Tuesday.  The move comes just a couple weeks before a roster bonus worth $400,000 was due, which was the biggest reason why DeVries is now a free agent.  Although DeVries says his "Achilles is fine," the fact that he ruptured it during training camp last year undoubtedly played a role in the decision to release him as well.  Also, DeVries wanted to be released now in order to have more time to "explore the options" on the free agent market. 

DeVries said that there is an opportunity to possibly return to the Lions in the future, so we will have to see if he lands somewhere else or if he is back on Detroit's roster at some point, which is what it sounds like Tom Lewand wants to happen.

"We think the world of Jared," Lewand said. "He was the epitome of a professional and has been for his entire career. We certainly hope that that ongoing dialogue that we have with him is productive."

DeVries has spent his entire career in Detroit.  The Lions drafted him back in 1999, which meant that he was on the team for more years than anyone else on the roster except Jason Hanson.  In his career, DeVries had only played in every game of a season once (2005), though he came close many other times.  He only played in two games during his rookie season, but he had never missed an entire year until 2009, which was a result of his Achilles injury.

I would personally expect the Lions to bring DeVries back if he doesn't get picked up by another team.  Although the Lions are trying to get younger, it would be good to have a veteran presence like DeVries on the team.  Besides, depth at defensive end isn't exactly all that great anyways, so I wouldn't mind DeVries being brought back for training camp and seeing how things progress from there.