NFL lifts suspensions of 7 players, including several Sensational Lions Stars whom were unable to….
DETROIT — The NFL has reinstated five players, including four former Detroit Lions, from indefinite suspensions stemming from violations of the league’s gambling policy last year, according to multiple reports.
The league lifted the bans for wide receiver Quintez Cephus, safety C.J. Moore, defensive end Rashod Berry, defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor and defensive end Shaka Toney.
Cephus and Moore were part of a group of five suspended last April, along with Lions receiver Jameson Williams. The latter received a lighter, six-game punishment that was eventually reduced to four games because he bet on a sport other than the NFL.
Both Cephus and Moore were immediately released following the announcement of their suspensions. Moore, a longtime special teams ace for the Lions, had re-signed with the club as a free agent a month earlier.
Taylor’s suspension was announced later, in late June. The former undrafted free agent had already been let go by the team a month earlier.
With the suspensions lifted, the reinstated players are eligible to immediately sign with new teams.
DETROIT (AP) – The NFL draft is coming to Detroit and for a change, the Lions are coming off a successful season and have appeared to address every need with seemingly sound moves.
Detroit has the No. 29 pick overall and if it doesn’t make a move to pick sooner, it will mark the latest the franchise has made a first-round pick.
The three-day event, which is expected to draw fans from all over to the Motor City, will be more of a showcase for the city than a chance for the Lions to add a desperately needed player in the draft.
About 150,000 people, many of them Lions fans, are expected to fill the streets around Campus Martius Park in the heart of downtown.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes is prepared to potentially disappoint Detroiters who show up Thursday morning or afternoon on April 25 waiting for their favorite team to be on the clock at the end of the night only to find out he traded out of the first round with an offer too good to refuse.
“Hopefully, our fans will forgive us,” Holmes said with a grin Thursday, a week before the draft.
Holmes has done enough in Detroit to earn the benefit of the doubt.
He has led one of the more impressive turnarounds in the league. Holmes, whose contract was extended during the offseason, took over a laughingstock of a franchise three years ago and turned it into one of the NFL’s best last season.
In large part, he has done it by hitting more than missing on draft picks.
The former Los Angeles Rams executive chose Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell with his first selection, No. 7 overall, and had perhaps the steal of the 2021 draft in the fourth round by taking USC wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Sewell and St. Brown each earned a spot on the 2023 All-Pro team.
Edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, drafted No. 2 overall two years ago, has proven to be a good pick. With a pair of first- and second-round selections last year, Holmes landed four players who played key roles on the franchise’s best team in generations.
All-Pro tight end Sam LaPorta, dynamic running back Jahmyr Gibbs, sturdy linebacker Jack Campbell and savvy defensive back Brian Branch will be tough quartet for any group of rookies to top this season in Detroit.
