The final days of training camp have finally approached, and the regular season is finally around the corner. Roster cut-down day is on Aug. 26 at 4 p.m. ET, and teams will have to get their rosters down to 53 players.
The Detroit Lions went 15-2 last season and look to recapture that success again in 2025. They are crafting their roster ahead of the season, and other teams around the league are doing the same. And on Thursday, former Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones was released by the New Orleans Saints to make room for Devaughn Vele.
The Saints released Donovan Peoples-Jones to make room for WR Devaughn Vele.
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 21, 2025
Ex-Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones Got Dropped by Saints
Vele got shipped to the Saints from the Denver Broncos in exchange for a 2026 4th-round pick and a 2027 7th-round pick. And with another WR in the building, Peoples-Jones got the short end of the stick.
Peoples-Jones signed with the Saints in free agency after spending the 2023 season with the Browns and Lions.
Cleveland decided to send Peoples-Jones to Detroit for a 2025 sixth-round selection two years ago. He spent three and a half seasons with the Browns, where he had 117 catches for 1,837 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
Those were the best days in the NFL for the Michigan product, as he wasn't able to regain that same success in the Motor City. In eight games with the Lions, Peoples-Jones had five catches for 58 receiving yards.
The Saints looked like an interesting landing spot for him, but he wasn't able to produce. He was fairly quiet through training camp and didn't reel in any catches through preseason games. That lack of production, in addition to the emergence of Mason Tipton and the writing was on the wall for Peoples-Jones.
Considering he didn't produce much in Detroit and his release from New Orleans, it's obvious that the Lions made the right decision to let him walk in free agency.
It'll be interesting to see if Peoples-Jones finds a way back to Detroit or anywhere else in the league in the coming weeks with the NFL regular season starting on Sept. 4 with the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys.