The Lions are using a six-week window to make some of their hardest roster decisions
Detroit isn’t choosing between veterans and young players as much as it’s deciding who can actually become useful before this season gets very far along.
The Detroit Lions are days away from trimming their roster to 53 players, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell dropped a telling comment Wednesday that should frame how fans think about every bubble decision this weekend. Campbell addressed the tension between keeping young, high-ceiling players and rostering veterans who can contribute immediately. His answer drew a very specific line in the sand.
“It’s one thing to say a year from now you have this, it’s another thing to say 6 weeks in, this guy’s going to be able to help us,” Campbell said.
Not next year. Not 2027. Six weeks from now. That’s the standard Detroit is applying to its final roster spots heading into Sunday’s cuts, and it tells you a lot about where this team’s head is at.
Upside alone isn’t going to cut it
Look, I know everybody loves upside. Every year we fall in love with some young guy at training camp because he’s athletic, he’s raw, or you can imagine what he might become if everything goes right. We’re talking about guys like Eric O’Neill, Erick Hunter, Jackson Meeks, Anthony Lucas, Dan Jackson, and Luke Altmyer. Campbell is telling you that’s not enough. If the pitch for keeping a guy is “well, maybe next summer he’s really good,” that’s going to be a tough sell on this roster. The Lions are trying to win right now.
What Detroit is willing to do, though, is take some lumps early if they believe the payoff is coming this season. Campbell talked about young players maybe struggling a little bit at first but continuing to develop to the point where six weeks from now, they’re helping. Then by the end of the season, that same player might be taking important snaps on offense, defense, or special teams.
That’s a completely different conversation. You’re not choosing between a veteran who helps now and a young guy who might help someday. You’re choosing between a veteran who helps now and a young guy who might be better than him by October. That changes things.
Why Saturday’s preseason finale matters differently than you think
Here’s the thing. This is also why Saturday’s final preseason game matters, but maybe not in the way people think. Campbell already said the Lions need to have a pretty good idea of where their roster stands before they even play this game, because the turnaround to Sunday’s cuts is so fast. For some of these young players, Detroit isn’t just asking whether he made enough plays in the preseason. They’re trying to project where the player is going to be after a month of NFL practices, meetings, and reps.
Can he help in September? Maybe not. But can he help in October? That’s where this gets interesting.
So who should the Lions actually wait for?
I think it’s worth remembering when the Lions make a cut this weekend that surprises people: sometimes the veteran is the safer play today. But if Detroit believes the younger player is going to catch him six weeks from now and then pass him, Campbell basically just told us they’re willing to live with a few bumps along the way to get there.
The question becomes: who would you be willing to wait for? And honestly, I don’t really know if there is a guy on this roster that they should wait for outside of Jackson Meeks. He’s done well enough at tight end this summer, he’s looked good, and there is realistically a spot where you can put him. Maybe by October you’re thinking you can start putting him out on the field on offense and trying some things.
I don’t think you can really get that elsewhere. Eric O’Neill is never really going to get a chance to play this year, so you would rather probably go with Levi Onwuzurike. The same goes for Anthony Lucas. These guys may have potential, but their potential is really more 2027 than 2026. They’re just not going to get the opportunity to play.
Same thing with Erick Hunter. He’s behind Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Trevor Nowaske, Devin White, and probably Joe Bachie. If you go with Bachie now, you know he can come in, play special teams reps, and help you out all year. Hunter is the ultimate “we don’t know,” and I don’t think they’re going to know six weeks from now either. When is he going to get the opportunity to play?
Dan Jackson is as buried as you could possibly be. If the Lions intend to bring both Branch and Joseph back, you don’t want to carry an extra safety you’re just going to have to cut in a few weeks.
The bottom line
What you can expect is the Lions are going to go veteran in most of these situations because they just don’t have anybody teetering on that edge of “maybe he can be ready in six weeks” other than Meeks. When you’re making your personal final 53-man roster projections, consider that Detroit is not looking for upside in 2027. They want to know who’s going to be good by the time they get to Week 6 or Week 7. Who can they do stuff with? Who can help right now and continue to help once the season gets rolling?
Outside of Meeks, I just don’t know how any of those other guys can do that.
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