Detroit Lions To Release Veteran Guard Geoff Schwartz

The Detroit Lions start the process of whittling down the preseason roster by releasing veteran offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz.

NFL rosters need to be trimmed from 90 players down to 75 by Tuesday at 4 p.m. but the Detroit Lions have already begun making moves.

According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Lions will release veteran guard Geoff Schwartz.

Schwartz tweeted his goodbye shortly after news broke.

The move comes a day after the Lions traded wide receiver Jeremy Kerley to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for guard Brandon Thomas. That trade can be categorized as simply a swap of a guy who wasn’t going to make the team for a guy who might, but it speaks to how the Lions felt about their current depth on the interior of the offensive line.

The release of Schwartz comes as somewhat of a surprise considering he was signed in the offseason to be the team’s top reserve. However, rookie Joe Dahl has preformed well in preseason play and releasing Schwartz now gives him a better chance to find a better situation elsewhere than holding him until final cuts.

That kind of courtesy to veterans on the outside looking in is not uncommon and was on display last week when the Lions released Stevan Ridley. Ridley was subsequently signed by the Indianapolis Colts, whose desperate situation at running back gives him a better shot to make a 53-man roster.

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Schwartz is healthy, as Birkett noted in his tweet, so he shouldn’t have a problem finding a team in need of a veteran presence on their offensive line. He just didn’t turn out to be the right fit for the Lions right now. Schwartz was signed prior to the 2016 NFL Draft, which turned out to be a line-heavy draft for the Lions, particularly with the selection of Graham Glasgow and Joe Dahl. What was a prudent decision to sign Schwartz at the time turned out to be superfluous.