The Detroit Lions dismissed Isaiah Buggs on Tuesday to make room on the roster for Alim McNeill’s comeback, adding another twist to the strange year for the defensive lineman.
Last season, Buggs was a vital component of the Lions’ defensive line, starting 13 games and providing a crucial run-stopping effort towards the end of the campaign.
This offseason, the Lions re-signed Buggs to a two-year contract. However, at the beginning of the season, he was not activated for unspecified reasons.
Buggs told the Free Press before Week 1 he thought his absence from offseason workouts contributed to his benching. He skipped most of his voluntary workouts to stay home with his newborn baby.
Buggs played in 10 games for the Lions this season, had one sack, and recovered a fumble in the Lions’ Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos. He appeared in each of the Lions’ past four games, but did not have a tackle against the Dallas Cowboys or Minnesota Vikings.
Before the Vikings game, Buggs told the Free Press he was looking forward to celebrating a division championship and had settled into his new role.
NFL POWER RANKINGS: Rams, Packers top Detroit Lions’ possible first-round playoff matchup
“Like I always told y’all, whatever this team needs me to do, I’m going to do it,” he said. “I’m a team player. I need to buy into what the coaches, what they have for me and I’m taking every opportunity I have with this chance that I’m getting to be great each and every time I’m out there. So like I said, can’t take none of it for granted, just got to go to work.”
The Lions have an excess of defensive linemen and tough roster decisions to make with at least two key defensive contributors due back from injury.
McNeill is expected to return to practice from injured reserve Wednesday and could play in Sunday’s season finale against the Vikings, and Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday he hopes safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson will return to the active roster from IR this week, too. Gardner-Johnson has been out since Week 2 with a torn pectoral muscle.
