Lions Cut Wide Receiver Ryan Broyles

Seeing the writing on the wall, Broyles asked the franchise for his release. I have enjoyed my time here.

The Detroit Lions are cutting wide receiver Ryan Broyles today, after three injury riddled seasons.

While he was at Oklahoma, Broyles set an NCAA record for career receptions (349) before Justin Hardy broke it a year ago. Those injuries zapped some of the explosiveness he showed in college.

Last season, Broyles had only two catches for 34 yards, playing in only 34 snatches all year.

“It’s just one of those deals, you make plays and you hope it works out for you”, Broyles said during the early days of training camp about trying to make the roster.

His release thins out the players fighting for what’s believed to be five receiver spots on the final 53-man roster. The thing about it, with him or whomever else out of that receiving corps, I think everyone knows it’s a very, very tight race, and there’s going to be some good football players that we have to let go. Unfortunately, in his senior year at Texas A&M, towards the end of the season, he tore his left ACL and was on the mend when he was drafted.

With Broyles gone, the Lions have just three recent second-round draft picks left on the roster: Rookie Ameer Abdullah, who’s expected to play a significant role in the Lions’ backfield this fall; linebacker Kyle Van Noy, a second-round pick past year who has battled injuries, and starting cornerback Darius Slay, a 2013 second-rounder.

Broyles managed to recover quickly again, but in 2014, he was active only during the five games, mostly due to Calvin Johnson being injured. He returned before the 2014 season, made the Lions and played sparingly throughout the season, even though he was healthy. “Whenever opportunity presents itself, try to make the best of it”.

Broyles, 27, never had much of an NFL chance.

The Lions must reduce their roster from 88 players to 75 by 4 p.m. Tuesday.