When the Detroit Lions trimmed the squad down to 50 players at Tuesday’s 53-man deadline, we knew some moves were on the way on Wednesday. Here’s what all Lions GM Brad Holmes cooked up to bring the roster up to 53 players, which included a brief drop to 49 after a trade.

Trading Tim Patrick

Before the youngsters were even off to the bus stop, the Lions made their first move of the day. Detroit dealt veteran wide receiver Tim Patrick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In return, the Lions get a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

This move was more about the Lions trust in dynamic rookie Isaac TeSlaa than anything Patrick did or did not do in his first Lions training camp. Patrick had made the initial 53-man roster but was not in line for much playing time behind TeSlaa as the big-bodied target in OC John Morton’s offense.

Signing safety Daniel Thomas

Holmes cooked up filling for one of the team’s holes by signing safety Daniel Thomas. Released by the Jaguars prior to the roster cutdowns, Thomas offers a veteran presence on the back end but especially on special teams.

Thomas played five years in Jacksonville as a fifth-round pick after playing collegiately at Auburn. He has a strong connection to the Lions and Detroit DB coach Deshea Townsend, who was his position coach with the Jaguars for two seasons. Thomas almost exclusively plays on special teams (under 50 defensive snaps in 30 games over the last two years), which puts him in the vein of recent Lions depth safeties like C.J. Moore and Brandon Joseph. In effect, Thomas is taking over the role projected to Loren Strickland, who was waived on Tuesday.

Waiver claims

Detroit was awarded two players on successful waiver claims: DE Tyrus Wheat and DT Tyler Lacy.

Wheat comes to Detroit from the Dallas Cowboys. The 6-foot-2, 260-pounder spent his first two seasons in Dallas, playing in 20 games. Wheat registered 14 tackles and a half-sack in eight games in 2024 and was part of the Cowboys roster cutdown.

Lacy is another pickup from the Jaguars. A fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma State in the 2023 NFL Draft, Lacy started eight games for the Jaguars in 2024 and has 28 total games of NFL experience. He fills the DE/DT “tweener” mold the Lions favor at 6-foot-4 and 276 pounds. Lacy is still looking for his first NFL sack, part of the reason the Jaguars waived him.

Last spot

Detroit is still holding at 52 players, as of 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. With vets Dan Skipper, Trystan Colon and Tom Kennedy all signed to the practice squad, that takes them out of contention.

There remains heavy speculation about free agent DE Za’Darius Smith, but to this point it’s all just speculation. Smith proved to be a strong fit when acquired in a trade a year ago, and he remains perhaps the most useful free agent still on the market.

Once anything becomes official, we’ll update who becomes No. 53.