25 former Detroit Lions players on 2023 XFL rosters

The XFL kicks off this weekend, helping ensure that this NFL offseason won’t have a football-less weekend for several months to come. This is the third attempt at the XFL, after its initial season fizzled out after a single season and the 2020 version was cut short due to COVID-19.

The league features eight different teams, meaning four games per weekend split between Saturday and Sunday—all of which will be televised on the ABC/ESPN/FX family of channels.

Unlike the USFL, which has the Michigan Panthers, there is no “local” Detroit team in the XFL. So if you’re looking to commit to one of the eight teams—the Vegas Vigers, Arlington Renegades, Orlando Guardians, Houston Roughnecks, St. Louis Battlehawks, San Antonio Brahmas, Seattle Sea Dragons, D.C. Defenders—you’ll have to look for other ways to connect to these franchise.

One way would be to scour the XFL franchises for former Detroit Lions players, and it turns out there is no shortage of those players. In fact, there are 25 players who spent some time on the Lions roster that are now rostered on an XFL franchise. Here’s a look at all 25.

See how many you can remember.

Arlington Renegades

QB Kyle Sloter
TE Isaac Nauta (on IR — Lions 2019 seventh-round pick)
TE Nate Becker
DT Bruce Hector
LB Will Clarke
CB Cre’Von LeBlanc
CB Shakur Brown

Seattle Sea Dragons

QB Steven Montez
FB Charlie Taumoepeau
WR Juwan Green
OT Ryan Pope
CB Chris Jones
S Alijah Holder
K Dominik Eberle

D.C. Defenders

QB Jordan Ta’amu
WR Chad Hansen
DT Caraun Reid (Lions 2014 fifth-round pick)
DT Gabe Wright (Lions 2015 fourth-round pick)

Vegas Vipers

QB Luis Perez
WR Geronimo Allison
OL Jamil Demby

Houston Roughnecks

LB Tavante Beckett
CB Alexander Myres

Orlando Guardians

CB Dee Virgin (on IR)

San Antonio Brahmas

TE Alizé Mack

St. Louis Battlehawks

None