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The Detroit Lions are continuing to make big changes on their roster before free agency has even begun. Just a couple days after making the tough decision to let T.J. Lang go—saving over $8 million in cap space—Detroit will be releasing cornerback Nevin Lawson, according to Ian Rapoport:
The #Lions are releasing CB Nevin Lawson, source said. He was due nearly $5M in 2019.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2019
Lawson had been the team’s No. 2 cornerback for the past three-and-a-half years. And while his coverage was always at least a little underrated, his lack of balls skills were especially frustrating for Detroit. In 63 games played (54 starts), Lawson never recorded a single interception.
The move clears out $4.675 million in cap space with only $1.125 million in dead cap.
However, more importantly, the Lions now have another big hole on their roster. Last year, the Lions took some shots at the bigger named free agents at cornerback, and with no No. 2 outside of Darius Slay, you can expect to see them do so again this year.
Update: According to Dave Birkett, the Lions have not notified Lawson that he’ll be released.
Lions still working through some things with Lawson. We’ll see how it ends up. Lawson’s $1.25m roster bonus is due the 3rd day of the 2019 league year.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 10, 2019
Update 2: ESPN is reporting that Lawson will be cut, according to one of Adam Schefter’s sources.