Detroit Lions announce release of tight end Eric Ebron
By Zac Snyder
The new NFL league year is about to begin and Eric Ebron is suddenly a free agent after being released by the Detroit Lions.
Less than an hour before the start of the new league year, the Detroit Lions dropped a bombshell. Tight end Eric Ebron is out.
The team initially picked up the fifth-year option on Ebron’s rookie contract last year but have obviously decided they’d rather move on than pay him the $8.25 million he was due on the option.
Ebron’s name surfaced in trade talks during the NFL Combine but clearly nothing came to fruition. You would think the Lions would have accepted any offer if they were so dead-set against bringing Ebron back that they ended up cutting him today.
The full statement from the team reads as follows:
"The Detroit Lions announced today that they have released TE Eric Ebron."
Yeah, pretty short and to the point.
Adding to the puzzling nature of Ebron’s release is that the Lions are now without either of their top two tight ends from a year ago. Darren Fells reportedly will be joining the Cleveland Browns on a three-year, $12 million deal.
Apparently the Lions figured they’d rather have $8.25 million in additional cap space than another season of Ebron. The huge question then becomes, did the Lions make the move with a big target in mind to use that space?
The Lions don’t have as much cap space to work with compared to some other teams that have been carrying over excess cap space for years, but they aren’t up against the cap like they were for much of the Martin Mayhew-Tom Lewand era. There wasn’t a hard reason to need to free up the cap space so the Lions must have something in mind, right?
Next: Detroit Lions seven-round mock draft
We shall see. For now, the Lions have more money to work with an a huge hole at tight end.