Thursday open thread: What grade would you give the Detroit Lions roster cuts decisions?

The Detroit Lions made a flurry of moves over the past couple of days, and on the other side of it, we have the team’s 53-man roster and 15-man practice squad. There were certainly some surprises along the way, along with some popular and unpopular decisions. The Lions roster is ultimately incredibly young, but it was always going to trend that way when they decided not to re-sign guys like Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Duron Harmon.

And while I didn’t give the Lions very favorable grades when it came to my position-by-position analysis of the 53-man roster, is there anything else general manager Brad Holmes could’ve done? The Lions’ talent pool was not very deep, and while the Lions could’ve been more aggressive in trades or waiver wire action, it’s unclear if an aggressive strategy in roster building is really the right move for where this team is currently at.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

What grade would you give the Lions for their 53-man roster moves?

My answer: I would give Holmes a solid B+.

When you look at where the Lions roster was at is there any player that you’re truly disappointed the Lions didn’t hold onto? Mike Ford is probably the only answer I’ve got, and while I’m still not on board with that move, I completely understand it. The Lions are going full youth movement and believe in the potential in guys like AJ Parker, Bobby Price and Jerry Jacobs. I’m willing to wait and see if they’re right about that at the expense of worse special teams for a season.

Elsewhere, who else was lost that deserved a roster spot? Craig Reynolds may not have made the final roster, but he slid through waivers and is back in Detroit on the practice squad. Same with defensive tackle Bruce Hector, linebacker Tavante Beckett and edge defender Rashod Berry.

They even made a couple savvy moves to keep around good players, like sneaking Nickell Robey-Coleman on the practice squad, and releasing a couple of veterans in Darren Fells and Dean Marlowe, who will almost certainly be back on the 53-man roster later this week after a couple of injury-related moves happen.

Holmes made a tough decision swallowing his pride and admitting he missed on Breshad Perriman.

Really, the only move I still don’t completely understand is the waiving of Tyrell Crosby. Sure, he was injured and he passed waiver, reverting to the Lions’ injured reserve list, but Dan Campbell made it pretty clear he didn’t make the roster because he was good enough. I believe the Lions will likely reach an injury agreement with Crosby and release him, and I just can’t understand why. The Lions have no offensive line depth, and Crosby turns 26 this week. There’s still youth and talent there. However, I guess the Lions were not prepared to extend his contract beyond this year, so they explored a trade and never found one. It’s still a decision I don’t like, but, again, it’s understandable.

So overall, I think Holmes made plenty of reasonable decisions, and didn’t lose much of the talent he brought into camp. They could have been more aggressive in adding talent, but regardless of what Holmes has said to the media, this is a full rebuild, not a retool. They aren’t ready for an aggressive push.

Your turn.