Lions claim former Bengals LB Jayson DiManche, waive Dominique Tovell

Though the Detroit Lions already cut their way down to a 75-man roster, they weren’t done with transactions for the day on Tuesday. According to the team, the Lions put in a claim for Bengals linebacker Jayson DiManche and was awarded him on Tuesday.

According to Cincy Jungle, DiManche was one of the Bengals’ most surprising cuts on Monday:

The biggest surprise was DiManche, who was vying for one of the final linebacker spots. After going undrafted out of Southern Illinois in 2013, DiManche signed as an undrafted free agent with the Bengals and played in all 16 games as a rookie.

But after being cut by the Bengals in 2015, DiManche bounced around between Kansas City, Cleveland and then ended up in Cincinnati on a futures contract. He’s been decent to this point in the preseason, but apparently not good enough to even make it through the first wave of cuts.

DiManche has a lot of special teams experience in his three-year career. In his rookie year, he had 12 special teams tackles and blocked a punt, according to Bengals.com.

As for his talent at the linebacking position, DiManche only started one game in his career at linebacker.

Now a member of the Detroit Lions, DiManche immediately fills a position of need. Josh Bynes and Jon Bostic continue to sit out practice with injuries, and it appears the Lions are preparing to place Bostic on the injured reserve list. Outside of those two, the team’s depth beyond its starters include a fifth-round rookie and a handful of options not expected to make the team. DiManche will have a very good chance to make the final 53-man roster, especially if Bynes and Bostic are out long-term.

The Lions made a corresponding move to accommodate DiManche in order to stay at or below the 75-man roster requirement. Dominique Tovell was waived on Tuesday. Tovell had already been waived and signed this month. Now the team has waived him again.