Some thoughts on Lions' first batch of reported cuts, including WR Donovan Peoples-Jones

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions will hold off on officially announcing any cuts until deadline day — Tuesday at 4 p.m. — but unsurprisingly, an initial wave of decisions has leaked via player agents late Monday afternoon and into the early evening.

Let me start by listing the players reportedly on their way out, along with the initial source of each report.

• Wide receiver Kaden Davis (Jordan Schultz)

• Wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (Jordan Schultz)

• Tight end Shane Zylstra (NFL Network)

• Running back Zonovan Knight (NFL Network)

• Cornerback Rashad Wildgoose (NFL Network)

• Guard Bryan Hudson (Aaron Wilson)

• Linebacker Mitchell Agude (ESPN)

• Linebacker Ty Summers (Detroit Free Press)

• Defensive lineman Pat O’Connor (Jordan Schultz)

• Long snapper Scott Daly (Detroit Free Press)

There are a couple mild surprises from that group, but no true stunners.

Of course, the conversation has to start with Peoples-Jones, even if this conclusion had become increasingly inevitable as training camp progressed. It culminated with a dismal showing in the team’s three preseason games -- nine targets, two receptions, 31 yards.

Honestly, I remain baffled how it got to this point. When the Lions re-signed Peoples-Jones, I was among the group who thought it was a logical, and cheap replacement for Josh Reynolds.

Yes, Peoples-Jones is a touch shorter, but thickly built, with elite athleticism and offering desired versatility, having experience playing outside and in the slot. And for as steadily reliable as Reynolds had been during his time in Detroit, he never had a season as productive as Peoples-Jones was in 2022, when he caught 61 balls for 839 yards.

Plus, Peoples-Jones had a half-season in the system after being acquired at last year's trade deadline, which should have flattened his learning curve. On paper, it all made sense.

But, for whatever reason, Peoples-Jones delivered an offseason reminiscent of Breshad Perriman in 2021. He was another big-bodied burner who had a decent resume before he failed to click in Detroit, and like Peoples-Jones, Perriman got cut before the regular season.

The obvious downside is it leaves the Lions with a roster hole they thought they had filled. And while coach Dan Campbell downplayed the need to have a larger-framed receiver on the roster, you have to wonder how it could impact things. That extends from the ability to throw a back-shoulder fade in the red zone to having a reliable perimeter blocker beyond Amon-Ra St. Brown.

There is going to be a lot of chatter about Tim Patrick, who Denver has reportedly put on the trade block. I'm familiar more with his measurables than his film, but he appears to check a lot of boxes. The bigger questions are his health and the state of his athleticism after missing the last two seasons with a torn ACL and torn Achilles.

But we all know GM Brad Holmes won't hesitate to take a chance on a guy coming back from injury, and Patrick does have a couple of 700-yard seasons on his resume. It's worth the phone call, at the very least.

Beyond Peoples-Jones, we’ve already misfired on two predictions with our final 53-man roster, making it a perfect 12 years we’ve failed to get it 100% correct.

By cutting Zylstra, the Lions are opting to go a different direction with their No. 3 tight end than I had predicted. But if it wasn’t clear when I switched the pick for that job in each of my three projections, none of the challengers stood out.

Unless the Lions do something wild and go with only two tight ends, the decision appears to be between former fifth-round pick James Mitchell and the superior blocking option, Parker Hesse. When in doubt, I generally favor Holmes’ draft picks. Admittedly, I should have stuck with my gut and did that in the first place.

The other misfire was with the long snapper. Obviously, I saw the appeal in rookie Hogan Hatten — who keeps Detroit’s streak of rostering at least one undrafted rookie alive — but I had a difficult time projecting the team would move on from Scott Daly, the veteran who knocked off Don Muhlbach a few years ago and had done nothing worthy of losing his job.

As for practice squad potential from the above list of cuts, there’s a lot. Agude clearly fits after spending last year on the unit. It would give him space to continue developing his SAM linebacker skills.

I’ve also made it clear I believe Kaden Davis would be a good fit on the unit. His stride length, acceleration and top speed are awesome, he just needs a little more development on his releases and beating press coverage.

O’Connor and Summers are experienced veterans who make sense, especially Summers, given his extensive special teams background (more than 1,300 snaps). And Knight has a power-running style that would give the Lions some added insurance if David Montgomery ever gets banged up.

Finally, Wildgoose has my vote, based on his name alone.

With Emmanuel Moseley and potentially John Cominsky heading to injured reserve, and rookie guard Christian Mahogany expected to stay on the non-football injury list, the Lions still have more than 20 cuts to make as of 7:40 p.m. Monday.

We’ll add to the list above if anything changes tonight and reset the table Tuesday morning as the team works toward its 53-man limit.