Wednesday open thread: Which Lions roster cut was the biggest surprise?

The DLions trimmed some notable names over the course of Monday and Tuesday to get under the 53-man roster limit by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Such is the nature of roster cutdown season, especially so in a year that features a new regime. This year’s Detroit Lions is going to look very different from that of 2020.

Question of the day: Which Lions roster cut was the biggest surprise?

My answer: Mike Ford.

Ford was someone who wasn’t a roster lock, but after playing most of the third preseason game and having a fairly strong performance, his departure did come as a surprise. Ford is a former UDFA who has stuck around in large part to his raw speed and grit, and as the team transitions away from the Patricia-era players, Ford was a strong model of what the new regime was looking for.

Ford also brought a lot of versatility, and with the carousel the Lions have had at slot corner and uncertainty on the outside, I thought that versatility would certainly be valued in the secondary. At the end of the day, Mike Ford’s release speaks to the faith the coaching staff has in UDFAs Bobby Price and Jerry Jacobs, both of whom hinted on social media as early as Tuesday morning that they had made the team.

I would be remiss not to give honorable mention to Tyrell Crosby, whom folks were discussing as potential trade bait as recently as this past weekend. However, be it via trade or free agency, the writing was on the wall that Crosby was going to be elsewhere by next season. Thus, although the decision came earlier than expected, it was a matter of when, not if, Crosby and the Lions parted ways.

Which cut was the biggest surprise to you? Let’s hear it.