Detroit Lions waive CB Alex Brown

The Lions made their first of five cuts ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.

The Detroit Lions announced on Sunday afternoon that they have waived cornerback Alex Brown.

Brown originally won a spot on the Lions’ 90-man roster through a rookie minicamp tryout. Although Brown is not technically a rookie—he went undrafted in 2019—he had only made three game appearances in his NFL career with only nine defensive snaps, all with the Kansas City Chiefs during his rookie season.

Early in camp, Brown suffered an injury after a big collision, but he eventually worked his way back to practice last week. He played 11 defensive snaps in Detroit’s preseason opener against the Bills, all at outside cornerback. He managed to tally just a single tackle on Friday night.

The Lions are still trying to figure out their outside cornerback depth. Though Jeff Okudah and Amani Oruwariye are pretty much locked into the starting jobs—especially after the recent release of Quinton Dunbar—Detroit’s depth is full of inexperienced players, including third-round rookie Ifeatu Melifonwu and undrafted rookie Jerry Jacobs. Recently, the Lions decided to cross-train nickelback Mike Ford and safety Bobby Price on the outside to provide additional depth there.

The Lions did not announce a corresponding move to waiving Alex Brown, and there’s a good chance there will not be one. Detroit needs to trim their roster down to 85 players by Tuesday. After Brown’s release, they are down to 89.