Detroit Lions Tackle Netted by Dolphins and Other Practice Squad Moves

Pressure was building, the movement was gathering—fans from Mlive to Scout and around Detroit Lions nation were starting to grumble about the prospects of Lydon Murtha. The 6'7", 315lb lineman from Nebraska was finally healthy and looking like he could be a great addition to the active roster. Certainly he must be better than what is out there now, right?

Then, as the trade deadline passed, each Lions fan breathed a sigh of relief as no millen-esque move was performed. No aged veteran on the down slope of his career was added to the roster. 

Then, late that night, the headline came, "Miami Dolphins sign Lydon Murtha off Lions' Practice Squad."

Doh!

On the bright side, Lions fans, Murtha was just a seventh round pick who wasn't even on the active roster. As one of three picks in that round in the last draft, the former Cornhusker was passed over by lots of teams.

However, Murtha being coveted by a team with an already decent offensive line means that he probably had enough upside to make our lowly line. With Backus backed up by a couple of guys in their 30's it would make sense to keep a guy like Murtha around.

Double Doh!

The Lions quickly replaced Murtha with Joe Cohen, a second year defensive tackle out of the University of Florida. The 6'2", 310lbs behemoth was originally a fouth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers but has bounced around due to injury.

In another practice squad move, the Detroit Lions released DT Jervonte Jackson and replaced him with Jahi Word-Daniels. Word-Daniels is a rookie cornerback out of Georgia Tech.

Michael Schottey is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and the producer and host of The Average Joe Sports Show on 860AM KNUJ (New Ulm, MN). He is also an NFL Analyst and Senior Writer for DraftTek.com.

---