Buffalo Bills signing Detroit Lions roster cut OT Germain Ifedi

The Detroit Lions released veteran offensive tackle Germain Ifedi over the weekend as part of their initial 53-man cutdowns. A few days later, Ifedi has found a new home. Per several reports, Ifedi visited the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday and is expected to sign with the team on Wednesday.

Ifedi was in a tight battle with incumbent Matt Nelson for the Lions’ backup tackle job. Midway through training camp, coach Dan Campbell admitted the race between the two was very tight.

“I think that Nelson and Ifedi are just going back and forth,” Campbell said. “I thought Nelson’s had a pretty good camp, but I think Ifedi played pretty good in this game last week, and he’s played a lot in this league.”

Ifedi did have a strong preseason, posting a 66.4 PFF grade and not allowing a single pressure over 70 pass blocking snaps.

On Monday, Campbell noted that roster cuts would be especially tough this year, as he expected several players they wouldn’t be holding onto would likely find jobs elsewhere.

“I do feel like that we are more talented and it’s not just more talented, but the players that we’re letting go are—man, just the way they’re made up, I mean any team would love to have them,” Campbell said. “The way they work, they’re smart, they’re pretty instinctive guys, and they’ve produced.”

Ifedi is the first example of that. We’ll see if anyone else the Lions were unable to keep finds a new home. At Noon ET on Wednesday, waiver wire claims are processed for any player waived from last weekend through Tuesday’s cutdowns. After that, teams will be able to sign any free agent to their practice squad.