Notes: Dan Skipper waived with injury settlement, could return to Lions in 2021

On Monday, the Detroit Lions waived offensive tackle Dan Skipper from injured reserve with an injury settlement. Skipper suffered an injury in the preseason finale that resulted in him getting carted off. He was initially waived/injured shortly thereafter and reverted to the Lions’ IR after clearing waivers. He’ll now go on waivers again, but if he clears again, he will become an unrestricted free agent.

That does pave the way to a possible return to Detroit this year. The injury settlement includes payment for as many weeks as the Lions project him to miss with his injury. In order to re-sign Skipper, the Lions would have to wait the length of his injury settlement plus an additional three weeks before they can add him to the roster. In the meantime, Skipper could be claimed on waivers or choose to sign with any other team.

Skipper had a decent training camp and preseason with the Lions, but the injury ultimately decided his fate for this year. The Lions are currently carrying just one reserve offensive tackle on the 53-man roster at the moment, Matt Nelson. Darrin Paulo is on the practice squad, while Tyrell Crosby is on injured reserve for the season.

• The Lions are holding a scavenger hunt for Wednesday in downtown Detroit. If you find one of the mini footballs, you’ll win tickets to the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Full details are here, but the Lions social media accounts have already been dropping hints to the football locations:

• Tuesdays are player days off during the NFL season. Many Lions players take the opportunity to help out the local community. Fullback Jason Cabinda, Tim Boyle, Jack Fox, and Amani Oruwariye are already in mid-season form in that respect:

• A few Lions media members have dropped their 2021 week-by-week predictions. MLive’s Kyle Meinke and Ben Raven have the Lions at 3-14, while Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press gives Detroit five wins (subscription required).

• It appears 2017 fourth-round pick and former Lions tight end Michael Roberts was involved in a serious car accident, but survived and came out a better man.

• Justin Rogers of the Detroit News has a fantastic profile on Lions defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant ($), who has been one of the biggest stars among Detroit’s coaching staff during training camp.

• Your official—but really unofficial—Lions depth chart for Week 1: