DeAndre Levy Reportedly Will Be Released by Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are planning to release longtime linebacker DeAndre Levy after back-to-back injury-plagued campaigns.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the news Thursday.

Levy, who turns 30 on March 26, was limited to five games in 2016. He missed 11 games due to a knee injury suffered in Week 1 before returning in a limited role for the Lions' final four games, finishing with 21 total tackles.

A second-team All-Pro in 2014, Levy's career has taken a steep downhill turn over the last two years. He was limited to one game in 2015 before undergoing corrective hip surgery, and the knee kept him off the field for most of 2016.

"It's been pretty frustrating. Each time, dating back to the spring, where I had something that sidelined me, it was kind of the same process," Levy told Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com in October. "Work hard, get it back right, get it back strong, get back out there. I'm not out there long and boom, another setback. Boom, another setback."

Levy had three years remaining on a $33.7 million contract extension he signed before the 2015 season. He was slated to count $8.4 million against the Lions' cap in 2017, per Spotrac. Detroit will likely choose to designate Levy as a post-June 1 cut to allow it to split his dead cap hold ($7.2 million) over the next two seasons. 

General manager Dan Quinn said earlier this month that he envisioned Levy returning to the team next season.

"DeAndre had a challenging year through the injuries, so it's something that he worked extremely hard, behind the scenes, to kind of get back," Quinn said, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "It was just a couple of things that kept him out of the lineup. So, as of today, I feel like he'll be back next year, and we'll talk about the contract if it ever comes up. But right now, we have nothing to report."

The Lions have had a busy couple days in free agency, most notably agreeing to a massive contract with offensive tackle Ricky Wagner, per Rapoport. With new blood coming in and some expensive contracts already on the books, the little amount of savings from Levy became a necessary evil.