Detroit Lions waive quarterback Steven Montez

On Tuesday, the Detroit Lions waived five players in a move to create space for the incoming rookies—both the draft picks and the undrafted free agent class. On Wednesday, they added one more player to the list of cut players.

Quarterback Steven Montez was waived, the team announced via Twitter.

Montez went undrafted in 2020 after being a three-year starter at the University of Colorado. He spent his rookie season with the Washington Commanders, almost exclusively on the practice squad. When he was part of Washington’s cuts in 2021, the Lions swiped him up and signed him to their practice squad. He served as the team’s scouting quarterback for the season, and when Detroit needed to rely on their reserve quarterbacks, he stepped up and helped backup Tim Boyle in his first career start.

“Leading up to the game last night, had a great session with our practice squad quarterback Steven Montez,” Boyle said after his game against the Browns. “We went through every single call on the call sheet. I felt really good about the plan.”

The Lions signed Montez to a futures contract earlier in 2022, and he took part in some offseason workouts over the past couple weeks. However, Detroit decided to part ways, for now, leaving them with just Jared Goff, Boyle, and David Blough on the roster.

That said, it’s worth pointing out that undrafted rookie quarterback Connor Sampson has reportedly been invited to Lions' rookie minicamp. If he impresses, he could take the QB4 spot on the roster. If not, it’s entirely possible Montez signs back with the team.

Including the Lions’ rookie draft class, the roster is now down to 80 players, which is still not enough room for the reported 12 UDFA signings (which are not official yet).