- Although Daniel Bullocks was placed on the waived/injured list, that doesn't necessarily mean he will become a free agent. I have always wondered what being put on the waived/injured list meant, but thankfully Tom Kowalski outlined it in a story today.
Assuming Bullocks clears waivers, the Lions can agree to an injury settlement with him and then waive him or re-sign him in approximately four to six weeks, or they can put him on the injured reserve. If they decide to do the latter, which seems to be the most logical move, Bullocks would become a restricted free agent after the 2009 season. The Lions would still be able to re-sign him and match any offer he receives from another team if they want to bring him back.
The one thing I don't understand about all of this is why Bullocks wasn't simply put on the IR in the first place. It's not like every player who has gone on the IR had to be put on the waived/injured list first, at least not as far as I know. Maybe it is because Bullocks is entering the final year of his contract. I'm not really sure, so if anyone knows or looks up the details of going on the IR and all that, leave a comment sharing what you know/found. I will do some research today and see what I can find.
UPDATE: I missed this at first, but John Niyo explained it in his blog yesterday, saying that before the first round of roster cuts happens, players who have been in the league for less than four years have to be put on waivers prior to going on the injured reserve. - Brandon Pettigrew and Calvin Johnson for sure won't play against Cleveland on Saturday. The same likely goes for Casey FitzSimmons, who just returned to practice this week.
- Jim Schwartz is going to announce the starting quarterback for the Cleveland game tomorrow. I expect Matthew Stafford to get the start. The hope is that the Lions will have a better idea of who should be the permanent starter before the third preseason game, which is usually the closest thing to a simulation of a regular season game.
- There were two fights during practice this morning.
- Keith Smith has returned to practice.
- What was supposed to be the Lions' final open practice has been closed to the public since it was moved indoors due to bad weather.
- The AP's Larry Lage wrote an in-depth piece on Ramzee Robinson.
- Pride of Detroit passed 2,000,000 page views this week!
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