Detroit Lions Waive Tight End

Lions announce corresponding move after signing cornerback.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell reacts with tight end Ross Dwelley (82) before Buccaneers game | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions have made an unfortunate decision on veteran tight end Ross Dwelley.

After signing cornerback Arthur Maulet, the team waived the former 49ers tight end in a corresponding move.

This season, Dwelley recorded two receptions for 11 yards and appeared in 11 games his first season in Motown.

The decision leaves Anthony Firkser and Hayden Rucci as the only tight ends on the 53-man active roster.

Giovanni Ricci currently holds a spot on the practice squad. Shane Zylstra practiced last week, but was sidelined again due to a knee injury.

Safety Thomas Harper remains in the league's concussion protocoal. It remains unclear if the talented safety will be able to clear protocol in time to play against the Los Angeles Rams.

“Harper’s another one, we’ll see. He’s still in concussion protocol," said Campbell. "No setbacks, but I don’t know if we’re going to have the runway to get him or not. I’m just kind of as of right now, until we get further along here, I’m just kind of, we’ll see. But certainly, if we could get Harper back, that’d be really good too.”

Team approach final month of 2025 season

Last season, Detroit was battling for a division title and the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC.

This year, the team is scratching and clawing for a spot in the postseason.

Dan Campbell was asked at his Monday media session with local reporters how the team approaches climbing back up, when they were the ones at the top of the NFC last year.

“Same. It really is the same approach, nothing has changed just in that regard. You’ve got to win. We had to win last year, that’s the way it felt. You never felt like you could take a breath last year. You’re constantly trying to, it was for something different, but yet you’re trying to get the one seed," said Campbell. "You’re trying to get that home game, you’re trying to get throughout the playoffs, all this stuff. And now it’s no different, it’s just we’ve got to win. We need a win, we’re trying to get back to that spot.

"So, all that matters is this one. Just like it was Dallas, man, we had to win that game. We had to find a way to win that game. And we did everything right, not everything, but relative to that game and everybody doing their job, we did what we needed to do to win it," Campbell added. "Played complementary football. We’ve got to do it again, on the road, versus the Rams. Very good team playing at a very high level. And we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to play better to beat this team that we’re getting ready to face. And we will, we can do that, we can play better. We will play better.”