3 Lions Making it Easy for Detroit to Say Goodbye in 2025

The 2024 season has obviously been an incredible one for the Detroit Lions, but the team's overall success doesn't mean that everyone has pulled their weight. If anything, the culture of excellence that Dan Campbell and co. have established just raises the bar on what is and isn't an acceptable level of play in Detroit.

With that in mind, there are some players whose production may have once been acceptable for the Lions that may simply not be enough to earn them a roster spot any longer.

These three players are lagging behind the rest of the team, making it an easy decision for the Lions to say goodbye to them in the offseason.

1. Dan Skipper, OT

Having joined the Lions in 2019, Dan Skipper has witnessed the franchise rebuild firsthand. That should endear him to the organization and its fans. But the NFL is a cutthroat business, and having 53 roster spots means there's no room to keep someone around just for the good feelings.

Skipper's versatility in being able to plug in at guard or tackle gives him some upside as a backup lineman, but he's proven that he just can't handle being thrust into the starting lineup when needed. And at the end of the day you'd rather have a backup who can fill in well at one position than a guy who fills in poorly at two.

Skipper has arguably been the Lions' worst offensive lineman this year, and PFF actually has him graded as one of the worst in the NFL. He sits 72nd among 80 tackles with an overall grade of 52.3. He's done especially poorly as a run blocker (46.7).

Consider, too, that the last time he started multiple games in a season (2022, five starts) he graded out even worse, at 43.9 with an almost unfathomably bad 19.6 pass blocking grade.