Lions place Shaun Dion Hamilton on IR, waive Michael Barnett, Chad Hansen

The Lions made a few moves to get down to the roster

The Detroit Lions announced three moves to get the roster down to the mandated 85-man limit by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton has been placed on reserve/injured, wide receiver Chad Hansen has been waived with an injury settlement, and defensive tackle Michael Barnett was waived.

Hamilton had been having a very positive camp and was certainly on the roster bubble. Given Detroit’s lack of depth at the linebacker position, he had a decent shot at a roster spot, especially considering his three years of experience in the NFL. It’s unclear what injury Hamilton suffered, as the 25-year-old linebacker played in 20 snaps during Friday’s preseason game with the Bills, but he was not present at practice on Monday. With Hamilton’s season done, it improves the likelihood of players like Jahlani Tavai, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and Anthony Pittman to make the roster.

Hansen was signed with the Lions back in June. He was an intriguing option as someone with NFL experience and a former teammate of Jared Goff at the University of California. He suffered an injury during training camp last week and hasn’t been at practice since. Though he was always a long shot to make the roster, he had made some positive plays in camp.

Barnett was added just two weeks ago due to Detroit’s mounting absences at defensive tackle. Michael Brockers, Da’Shawn Hand, Nick Williams, Levi Onwuzurike, and John Penisini all missed Detroit’s preseason opener. However, Onwuzurike returned to practice this week, and it appears Penisini is also trending in the right direction.

The Lions are actually down to 84 players. It appears they’ve used that extra spot on free agent quarterback Jordan Ta’amu of XFL fame.