Lions Add Running Back Depth With Signing of Raheem Blackshear

Amidst ongoing injuries and uncertainty in the running back room, the Detroit Lions have made an addition to their roster at the position.

On Tuesday, the Lions announced the signing of veteran running back Raheem Blackshear. In a corresponding move, they waived wide receiver Lawrence Keys III with an injury designation. Keys had left practice Monday with a hamstring injury.

Blackshear was one of four players the Lions worked out at the running back position Tuesday. Along with Blackshear, the Lions worked out Hassan Haskins, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Kylin James. This search for depth comes as a result of the injury suffered by Sione Vaki, who broke his nose and was poked in the eye at practice on Monday.

The veteran running back went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech, and has since spent time with five different NFL organizations. Most notably, he spent three years with the Carolina Panthers and appeared in 41 regular season games over that time frame.

In his career, Blackshear has totaled 52 carries for 203 yards and three touchdowns.

Detroit has also been down a running back throughout the start of camp as Jahmyr Gibbs has yet to practice. He is awaiting a new contract, one that could be on the horizon after fellow 2023 first-round pick Bijan Robinson inked a new deal on Tuesday that will pay him a base salary of $22.75 million per year.

If the Lions get the deal done with Gibbs in the near future, which many expect given the correlation between him and Robinson and the Lions' aptitude for rewarding their players, Vaki's injury still creates a need for depth which James will fill for the time being.

The Lions' running back room currently features Gibbs as the bell cow, as his performance over his first three seasons has made the team comfortable with him in an even larger role. They traded David Montgomery to the Houston Texans this offseason, seemingly lengthening the runway for the talented running back.

Behind him, the team signed veteran Isiah Pacheco on a one-year contract. With Gibbs on the sidelines, Pacheco has been the team's first option out of the backfield. Additionally, Vaki's injury has allowed for more reps between Jabari Small, Jacob Saylors and Kye Robichaux.

Vaki entered training camp looking to earn the team's third running back spot, though Saylors also has a case after spending most of the season on the active roster as one of the team's kick returners.

Add us as a preferred source on Google