The Detroit Lions made a minor but interesting move on their practice squad on Tuesday afternoon. The team announced they have released veteran nose tackle Chris Smith and replaced him with rookie nose tackle Aidan Keanaaina.
Smith is a well-respected player within the building, and even got some early reps in training camp and the preseason. After Smith’s game against the Bengals in August, Lions coach Dan Campbell heaped praise on the 26-year-old defender.
“He just does everything right,” Campbell said. “He does all the little things right. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. He’s the guy you love to coach because he’s up here all offseason, works his tail off, is always trying to hone his game. He plays disciplined football.”
Despite a strong preseason, Smith didn’t make the 53-man roster, and he spent the first six weeks on the practice squad without a call-up. Now an undrafted rookie is taking his roster spot.
If the name Aidan Keanaaina sounds familiar, it’s because Detroit initially invested heavily in him as an undrafted rookie. Among Detroit’s UDFA class this year, Keanaaina received the highest amount of contract guarantees with $267,500. Unfortunately for him, he suffered an injury during training camp that landed him on injured reserve, and he was released with an injury settlement shortly thereafter.
Clearly, the length of that injury settlement has passed, and Keanaaina can now continue his development with Detroit. With the Lions lacking a ton of depth at nose tackle, it’s certainly possible he eventually sees the field this season, but it’ll take some time for him to get back into football shape.
With Keanaaina back in Detroit, he joins five other members of the Lions UDFA class on the roster, including EDGE Eric O’Neill (active roster), quarterback Luke Altmyer, tight end Miles Kitselman (who also returned after his injury settlement expired), EDGE Anthony Lucas, and safety Aamaris Brown.