Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Lions are expected to release veteran LB Stephen Tulloch in the next few weeks.
For the time being, Rapoport says that the Lions have excused Tulloch from mandatory minicamp.
Tulloch told Fox 2 in Detroit a few weeks ago that he’s hoping to have a resolution regarding his status with the team in the coming days.
“My gut is we’ve got to wait and find out,” Tulloch said, per Carlos Monarrez. “Couple more days. We’ll see.”
Reports from a few months ago mentioned that the Lions informed Tulloch that he was being released. However, they still paid him a $500,000 roster bonus and reports later surfaced that they were at least trying to trade Tulloch.
The Lions have been dragging this situation for some reason without offering any indication of why he’s still with the team.
Tulloch, 31, is in the final year of his five-year, $25.5 million contract that included $11.25 million guaranteed. He was set to make a base salary of $5.5 million for the 2016 season.
According to OverTheCap.com, releasing will free up $6 million in available cap space while creating $1.3 million in dead money.
In 2015, Tulloch appeared in all 16 games and recorded 108 tackles, one sack, a forced fumble, two recoveries and a pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 54 linebacker out of 97 qualifying players.
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