The Lions have waived 25-year old fullback Jerome Felton.  Felton played in 16 games (2 starts) for the Lions last year and he carried the ball 22 times for 76 yards (3.5 ypc).  He also caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg) last year.  Felton played in 42 games (16 starts) in his three years with the Lions and he carried the ball 39 times for 126 yards (3.2 ypc).  He also caught 30 passes for 240 yards (8.0 avg) in Detroit.  The Lions are going to more of a 1 RB system, which pretty much eliminated Felton’s position at fullback.  Don’t feel too sorry for him as he is almost certain to find a new team before the 2011 season starts.

The Lions have released 28-year old kicker Dave Rayner.  Rayner played in 8 games for the Lions last year and he made 13 of 16 (81.3%) field goals.  He also made all 16 of his extra point attempts as he finished up with 55 points last year.  Rayner was beaten out for the kicking job by 41-year old Jason Hanson.

The Lions have released 24-year old linebacker Zack Follett.  Follett played in 5 games for the Lions last year with 21 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  His season ended early due to a neck injury.  Follett played in 17 games in his two years with the Lions and he had 31 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 fumble recovery.  His neck was still burning in training camp, so the Lions released him for his own good.

The Lions have released 30-year old linebacker Jordon Dizon.  Dizon didn’t play at all last year due to injury.  Dizon played in 28 games in his three years with the Lions and he had 57 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble.  This is not much of a loss for the Lions who are looking to rebuild on the defensive side of the football.

The Detroit Lions have released 30-year old WR Bryant Johnson.  Johnson played in 14 games (7 starts) for the Lions last year and he caught 18 passes for 210 yards (11.7 avg) with 0 TDs.  He played in 30 games (23 starts) in two years with the Lions and he caught 53 passes for 627 yards (11.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Johnson just didn’t play well for the Lions and he’s going to be no loss even if he hooks on with another team.  He was a huge disappointment and the Lions will be a better team without him on it.

The Detroit Lions have released 32-year old linebacker Julian Peterson.  Peterson played in 15 games for the Lions last season and he had 83 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, 5 passes defensed and 1 fumble recovery.  Peterson played in 31 games in his two years with the Lions and he had 159 tackles, 9 passes defensed, 5.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  You can add outside linebacker to the list of needs for the Lions in 2011 as Peterson might be harder to replace than they think he is.

The Lions have released 28-year old cornerback Eric King.  King played in 3 games for the Lions last season in which he had 9 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  King played in 7 games in parts of two years for the Lions and he had 16 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  The Lions won’t miss King too much as they will continue to look to rebuild the secondary this off-season.

The Lions have waived 26-year old cornerback Jonathan Wade.  Wade played in 8 games for the Lions this year and he had 30 tackles and 3 passes defensed.  Wade was caught in a numbers game with the Lions which led to them getting rid of him.  Other corners have passed him up.

The Lions have released 31-year old safety Dante Wesley.  Wesley played in 3 games for the Lions this year and he had 2 tackles.  The Lions have players they like more in the secondary than Wesley so it didn’t make any sense to keep him.  The Lions also have better, younger players for special teams ending Wesley’s days with them.

The Lions have released 27-year old guard Manuel Ramirez.  Ramirez didn’t get into any games this year for the Lions.  He played in 18 games (15 starts) in his four years with the Lions.  The Lions won’t miss Ramirez going forward as he just wasn’t good enough to get on the field for them this year.