Report: Detroit Lions signing back WR Trinity Benson

Trinity Benson is back!

As first reported by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Lions are signing Benson off the Denver Broncos practice squad. This comes just over a year after the Lions traded for Benson at the start of the 2021 season.

General manager Brad Holmes has drawn criticism for that trade, despite the low compensation—the Lions sent a fifth and seventh-round pick for Benson and the Broncos’ 2023 sixth-round pick.

However, Benson never made much of an impact with Detroit last season. He was only active for eight games, and over that span, he caught just 10 passes for 103 yards.

Since then, the Lions added receivers DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds, and Jameson Williams to their roster, and Benson failed to make the team’s 53-man roster this season. In October, Benson signed back to the Broncos practice squad, where he stayed until Detroit poached him this week.

The Lions are suddenly shorthanded again at receiver. Chark is on injured reserve and will remain there for at least one more week. Reynolds has battled through several injuries this year and missed last week with a back injury. Williams has yet to come off the non-football injury list and won’t make his NFL debut until at least December.

So it’s entirely possible Benson, who obviously comes with familiarity of this offense, could be a short-term fix while the Lions try to get healthy at the receiver position.

As of this publishing the Lions have not confirmed the signing. But he would take the place of Stanley Berryhill, who was waived on Monday.