The Detroit Lions are now down to 81 players after confirming that fullback Jerome Felton has been released. The move was first reported by NFL Network's Jason La Canfora.
Lions inform FB Jerome Felton of his release this AM. Quality FB, but team doing in direction of keeping more TEs.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® 
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Jason La Canfora
JasonLaCanfora
La Canfora's tweet indicates that Matt Clapp didn't win the fullback job, but rather somebody like tight end Will Heller may be serviceable enough to allow the Lions to move forward without a true fullback. His tweet also seems to indicate that someone like Joe Jon Finley could be kept as the fourth tight end on the roster, which would surprise me a bit. Then again, if Heller is going to be playing fullback on top of tight end, perhaps having a fourth TE isn't such a bad idea.
In any case, Felton departs the Lions after spending the last three years in Detroit. He was drafted in the fifth round in 2008 and appeared in all but six games over the last three seasons. He wasn't all that happy with how little he was used on offense, but since he was a restricted free agent, he re-signed with the Lions earlier this offseason. Now he is going to have a chance to sign with another team, and like with Dave Rayner, the Lions are giving him extra time to find a new job by releasing him now.