Lions Bring Back UDFA Tight End, Release CB From Practice Squad

The Detroit Lions have reunited with a familiar face ahead of their Week 4 matchup with the Carolina Panthers.

On Monday, the team released cornerback Natrone Brooks from the practice squad and signed tight end Miles Kitselman to the practice squad in his place. Kitselman returns to Detroit after spending some time with the organization before an injury in training camp.

Detroit initially placed Kitselman on injured reserve upon his injury in camp, but eventually waived him with an injury designation. Normally, that means the team and player have agreed to a financial injury settlement.

These injuries carry timelines of expiration, during which the player is free to sign with any of the other 31 teams but unable to return to the team that cut him. It would appear that his settlement with the Lions has expired, as he is returning to Detroit.

Meanwhile, Brooks departs the Lions' organization after inking a practice squad agreement earlier this month. He has appeared in 26 games over his first two seasons, all with the Atlanta Falcons.

An undrafted free agent out of Tennessee, Kitselman inked a deal with the Lions and appeared to be impressing early in camp. He is billed as a block-first tight end, and got some looks with the first-team offense during offseason workouts while Sam LaPorta was limited during his recovery from a back injury last year.

Unfortunately, Kitselman's training camp came to an early end when he suffered what was reported as a leg injury.

Another example of the injury settlement situation is defensive end Ahmed Hassanein. Drafted in the sixth-round of last year's draft, Hassanein was set to make the roster before suffering an injury in the preseason finale as a rookie.

Rather than use up one of the alotted injured reserve slots, the Lions waived him with an injury designation. When the settlement expired, Hassanein returned to Detroit on the practice squad.

Detroit did some shuffling at the tight end position before their Week 3 win over the New York Jets. Tyler Conklin was made a healthy scratch, which allowed Jackson Meeks to bump up to the third spot on the depth chart behind LaPorta and backup Brock Wright.

As a practice squad player, Kitselman is eligible to be elevated for three games before the team must ultimately decide whether they want to sign him fully to the active roster. He is also able to be poached by any of the other 31 teams, provided they sign him to their active roster.

Add us as a preferred source on Google