Earning rave reviews from teammates, Lions planning to give Muti another shot to win a job in 2025
Allen Park — Can you be a forgotten man on an NFL roster if the fan base never got to know you in the first place?
Netane Muti arrived in Detroit with next to no fanfare. Signed to a futures contract in the void between the end of the Lions' 2023 season and the start of the new league year in mid-March, there weren’t many outside expectations attached to the guard entering his fifth season with just four career starts and none since 2021.
And despite a strong showing during the early stages of the team’s offseason program, he was poised to fade into obscurity after suffering a season-ending injury a week into training camp, becoming part of a vast sea of relative unknowns who spend time on the offseason roster but never make enough of an impact to be remembered.
When a player suffers a season-ending injury during the offseason while working on a one-year contract, a quiet departure is common. Most often, an injury settlement is reached. It’s a negotiated figure based on how long the injury is expected to sideline the player, and it clears valuable space in the locker room and training room.
If a settlement isn’t reached, a player is given the choice of rehabbing with the team or back home. More than four months after tearing his pec, Muti’s daily presence in Detroit’s locker room is notable.