In this installment of our Detroit Lions 2025 training camp preview series, we examine the Lions’ safeties, speculate on current and future roles, and discuss how many players from this group could make the 53-man roster.
Previous training camp previews:
- QB: Can Hendon Hooker stick at QB2?
- RB: Will there be any changes to the room?
- WR: Loaded with depth options and youth
- TE: Who will win the TE3 job?
- OT: All eyes on Giovanni Manu
- IOL: What to expect from IOL overhaul
- DT: How Alim McNeill’s injury impacts the room
- EDGE: Roles and Depth battles
- LB: How Malcolm Rodriguez’s injury impacts the room
- CB: Will there be any shake-up at corner?
Setting the table
The Lions opened the 2024 season with five safeties on their roster, but for the majority of the season, they only deployed three on game days: Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, and Brandon Joseph. Ifeatu Melifonwu was injured before the regular season, and while
he was inactive for the first three weeks, he wasn’t put on injured reserve until Week 4. This move saw undrafted rookie Loren Strickland promoted from S5 to S4, but he only appeared in seven games throughout the season, and his role was limited to special teams.
In Week 14, Strickland was released (signed to the practice squad), and the Lions signed safety Jamal Adams (also to the practice squad). Adams was only elevated twice before being released. In Week 16, Melifonwu was finally healthy and returned to the roster after his second stint on injured reserve, resulting in Brandon Joseph being released. The following week, undrafted rookie Morice Norris was signed off the practice squad and closed out the season as the fourth safety.
Entering the 2025 offseason, the Lions only had two safeties under contract: Branch and Kerby Joseph, who signed a massive contract extension. To add more depth, Morris, Strickland, and practice squader Erick Hallett were re-signed to one-year deals. Melifonwu signed with the Dolphins with the hopes of landing a starting role, and the Lions signed safety/nickel Avonte Maddox as his replacement. Additionally, the Lions drafted Dan Jackson in the seventh round, and local prospect Ian Kennelly was signed as a UDFA.
Roster construction
Under the Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell regime, the Lions have maintained a fairly consistent roster of safeties, typically keeping four or five safeties on the active roster. Let’s take a look at what they’ve done at safety in the previous four seasons:
- 2021: Opened the season with four safeties but ended up with six at season’s close.
- 2022: Started and ended the season with five safeties.
- 2023: Started and ended the season with just four safeties.
- 2024: Started with five safeties on the roster but operated and ended with four.
The battleground
The Lions coaches believe they know who their top three safeties will be in 2025, but could there be any shakeup amongst the safety depth roles?
How safe is Avonte Maddox?
Branch and Joseph are individually amongst the best safeties in the league, and together, they are undoubtedly the best safety tandem in the NFL. The decision to move Branch to safety full-time paid off huge, and the pair made offenses look away from the middle of the field. Unfortunately, late-season injuries at corner forced Branch to play nickel in the final weeks of the season, a move they’re hoping to avoid in 2025.
To help Branch stick at safety for the entire season, the Lions targeted Maddox in free agency. Maddox has 2,000+ snaps at nickel over his career, and he is expected to be the primary backup behind Amik Robertson in the slot, as well as behind Branch and Joseph at safety.
“We obviously lost Iffy (Melifonwu), and we gained Avonte Maddox,” safeties coach Jim O’Neil said this offseason. “Avonte will be an inside player, similar to what he’s done his whole career, as far as a nickel/safety body. That’s what he’s done at Philly for the years (he was there).”
Maddox should feel pretty safe in his spot as the team enters training camp. He’ll surely be in the third safety role to open, but the Lions remain a merit-based team, so he’ll need to be looking over his shoulder at the youth behind him.
Who will win the fourth (or fifth) safety job?
“We’ve got five young, unproven, hungry guys. There’s one spot. Go earn it,” O’Neil continued. “It’s exciting to see those guys compete. And, obviously, the OTAs and the training camp practices. And they’ll get the bulk of the work throughout the four preseason games. We’re waiting on one of them to pop. Hopefully, two or three of them pop, and we end up in a great situation.”
- Dan Jackson walked onto the Georgia team and, by his senior season, earned a starting safety role and was captain of the Bulldogs' special teams. The Lions have raved about his special teams play and believe he has the potential to be a four-phase contributor from the jump. Chances are that Jackson opens camp with the third team, but with his work ethic and skill set, he should be pushing for second-team snaps very quickly.
- Morice Norris has the range to play both safety roles, as well as in the slot. While he spent most of the season on the practice squad, it’s worth noting that he was the one coaches called on in the playoffs to step into a bigger role. Norris may represent the biggest true challenger to Maddox for the Lions’ third safety role.
- Loren Strickland made last year’s initial roster because of his special teams contributions, and while that can help his chances to make the roster again, he’ll need to prove that he can contribute on defense as well. Strickland also has experience playing in both safety roles and in the slot, putting him firmly on the “chasing Maddox” radar.
- Erick Hallett spent all of last season on the Lions' practice squad (save three weeks in late November/early December), and while he’s yet to play in an NFL game, he has the range to play both safety spots and in the slot. Can he show off that range in this year's training camp? If he does, he’ll get a shot.
- Ian Kennelly is a big-bodied, rangy athlete who has the experience to play deep and in the slot. He possesses tremendous ball skills, excels in run support, and has NFL bloodlines, as he is the nephew of Stuart Schweigert, who played for the Lions in 2008. As a Michigan native (Macomb) with a unique size-speed-skill set, he could be a sleeper that fans fall in love with.
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