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On Sunday, I wrote that of the tight ends on the Detroit Lions roster, only Will Heller seemed like a player who "could conceivably be let go." I did not expect him to be released less than 24 hours after that post went up, but he is the first cap casualty for the Lions this offseason. From Tim Twentyman:
Lions have released TE Will Heller.
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) March 12, 2012
According to Anwar Richardson, Heller had a cap number of $1.3 million for 2012. While that doesn't seem like a lot, every little bit of extra space helps as the Lions try to re-sign guys like Stephen Tulloch, Eric Wright and Jeff Backus.
Greg Nielsen threw out an interesting idea about Heller potentially being brought back at the veteran minimum now that he is a free agent. Doing so would reduce Heller's cap hit but allow him to stay with the Lions. That's just speculation, but it wouldn't be surprising if the Lions did try to bring him back.