NEWS UPDATE: A $25 million veteran named Cut Candidate for the Lions
Tracy Walker, a safety with the Detroit Lions, lost his position during the 2023 season. He might not make the squad this offseason.
On February 19, Matt Okada of NFL.com listed Walker as a possible contender for an NFC roster cut.
“The Lions are actually in excellent cap shape going into 2024, but Walker might be the place to save some extra money,” Okada wrote. Despite playing in all 17 games the previous season, he only started six of them and gave up a 123.8 passer rating in primary coverage, according to PFF.
Walker would free up $8 million in contract space for a squad that is very close to winning the Super Bowl if he was named a post-June 1 cut.
Walker is in the last year of a three-year, $25 million deal.
As Okada noted, the Lions can save $8 million against the cap if Walker is a designated post-June 1 cut. Detroit will save $5.5 million if it releases Walker before June 1.
Safety Tracy Walker a Cut Candidate for Detroit Lions?
Okada isn’t the only analyst expecting the Lions to potentially release Walker this offseason.
Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti included Walker as one of four safeties on his “All-Bubble NFL Team” on February 19. The list included players from around the league Ginnitti argued could be cut at every position.
On February 14, SI.com’s All Lions’ Christian Booher also mentioned Walker as a cut candidate for the Lions.
“[Walker] was relegated to a bench and special teams role and later a healthy scratch at the end of last season,” Booher wrote. “He started six games this season but the team moved on to Ifeatu Melifonwu late in the year, and Melifonwu made a compelling case to be a starter in the secondary next season.”
In six starts, Walker posted 34 combined tackles and 2 pass defenses. For the entire season, Walker registered a 62.8 Pro Football Focus player grade.
That was ranked 66th out of 104 safeties who played at least 20% of his team’s defensive snaps in 2023.
Walker’s replacement in the starting lineup, Ifeatu Melifonwu, posted 26 combined tackles in the final five regular season games. Melifonwu also had 3 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback hits, 3 sacks and 2 interceptions in that five-game stretch.
Then in the postseason, Melifonwu recorded 16 combined tackles, 3 quarterback hits and 2 sacks.
At PFF, Melifonwu registered an 82.1 player grade for the entire season.
