Former Tennessee Vol experienced the harsh reality of the NFL first hand on Wednesday
The NFL is a cruel business, and one VFL was reminded of that on Wednesday afternoon.
The NFL can be a cruel business. You’re useful to your franchise, until you’re not. And that “not” can happen just a day or two after the franchise makes you a part of their roster for the year.
We saw it with Joe Milton III and the Dallas Cowboys, who released the former Tennessee signal caller just a day after the 53-man roster cutdowns were done. Granted, the backup QB job was still being debated by the coaching staff, but it’s still a tough situation for the player.
Now you can add Milton’s former Tennessee teammate Jabari Small to that list. Small, who made Detroit’s 53-man roster on Sunday, was waived on Wednesday afternoon by the Lions.
Detroit Lions waive former Tennessee RB Jabari Small
It’s not completely out of left field that the Lions would waive Small. Detroit kept a staggering five running backs on the 53-man roster, which you don’t see often, so if Detroit was going to cut down to accommodate a move, that positional group would be a very likely candidate.
Small had a strong offseason for the Lions after signing a futures deal with the team back in January. That was enough to make his first 53-man roster. After the 2024 offseason with Tennessee, he was waived and signed to the practice squad. He was waived by Detroit during cutdowns last year and later signed to the practice squad in late November.
We’ll see if Small signs with the practice squad if he clears waivers in the next 24 hours. And bad news is nothing new for Small, given he’s been waived before. However, it’s still a tough break to go from finally being on the active roster back down to the practice squad in such short order.
