The Detroit Lions made two roster moves to get down to the 85-player limit before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline, waiving safety Brady Breeze and receiver Josh Johnson.
Breeze played four games with the Lions last season, mostly on special teams, after starting the year with the Tennessee Titans.
He was competing for a back-end roster spot at safety, but became expendable after the Lions spent a third-round pick on Kerby Joseph and with the return of C.J. Moore from the nonfootball injury list.
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Lions coach Dan Campbell mentioned Joseph as one player who caught his eye in last week’s preseason-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Joseph made a team-high six tackles while playing 43 snaps.
Tracy Walker and DeShon Elliott are expected to start at safety for the Lions fall, with Joseph in a backup role. Moore, Juju Hughes and Ifeatu Melifonwu also are vying for roster spots. Melifonwu has not practiced in more than a week because of injury.
Johnson, likewise, had missed a large portion of camp with an undisclosed injury. An undrafted rookie out of Tulsa, he did not play against the Falcons.
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Of their initial 12-member UDFA class, the Lions have just seven players still on their roster.
Three rookie free agents have retired since June, and the Lions waived Nolan Givan on Monday. The Lions also waived-injured Greg Bell earlier this month, but he reverted to injured reserve once he cleared waivers.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.