The start of the new NFL league year commenced at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The flip to 2024 means transactions that had been pending and long-reported are now able to be made official.
Such was the case for the Detroit Lions with a few deals that had been in the works. Among those were the qualifying tender offers for restricted and exclusive rights free agents on the roster.
MOst of these were already known, but the Lions made it official. They extended qualifying offers to just one of the six eligible restricted free agents. Tight end Brock Wright will be back in Detroit for $2.9 million.
The following restricted free agents are now on the open market and no longer under contractual control or compensation ties to the Lions:
- CB Jerry Jacobs
- CB Chase Lucas
- LB Anthony Pittman
- LS Scott Daly
- DT Benito Jones
- CB Khalil Dorsey
For exclusive rights free agents, or ERFAs, the Lions officially tendered five of the six eligible players. Most notable is EDGE James Houston, whose status had been kept quiet by all parties. Houston will play for the NFL league minimum for the Lions in 2024 and will become a restricted free agent following the season if he’s on the roster in some form for at least six games.
The trade for Carlton Davis and recent re-signings of RB Zonovan Knight, CB Emmanuel Moseley and TE Shane Zylstra were also made official on the league’s transaction wire.