James Houston never seemed to fit the Detroit Lions defense, even when he was piling up sacks at an impressive rate in the second half of his rookie season. And days before their Thanksgiving game against the Chicago Bears, the Lions decided it was time to let him go.
The Lions waived Houston on Tuesday, two days after he played just four defensive snaps in a 24-6 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
“It just never quite worked out,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday in Allen Park. “And look, wish him the best of luck, and sometimes you just need a fresh start and this could be great for him, so wish him the best.”
A sixth-round pick out of Jackson State in 2022, Houston had eight sacks in seven games as a rookie after starting the season on practice squad, and one sack in 10 games since.
He won a backup job out of training camp in 2023, but struggled as a run defender, never took to a move to strong-side linebacker and was limited to two regular-season games after breaking his ankle playing special teams in Week 2 that year.
This year, Houston struggled to crack the Lions’ pass rush rotation, even after they lost starting defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport to injury. He was a healthy scratch for three games early in the year, had two tackles in a season-high 36 snaps in a Week 8 win over the Green Bay Packers, and played 35 snaps in the three games since.
The Lions have just 10 sacks in the six games since Hutchinson broke his leg against the Dallas Cowboys, but have gotten more consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks since acquiring Za’Darius Smith at the trade deadline.
Smith, who had four quarterback pressures in last week’s win over the Colts, has started the past two games opposite Josh Paschal at defensive end, with defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike and outside linebacker Trevor Nowaske also seeing time on the edge.
Houston will be free to sign with another team if he clears waivers at 4 p.m. Wednesday. He is just the third of the Lions’ 29 draft picks since 2021 no longer with the team. Cornerback Chase Lucas, a seventh-round pick in 2022, is on the San Francisco 49ers practice squad, and receiver Antoine Green, a seventh-round pick last year, was waived injured this summer after suffering brain and neck injuries.
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