Cedrick Wilson Jr. has been here before, nearly every year of his existence, in fact. So there’s no doubting his sincerity when he says he’s at peace with what comes next in his battle for the fifth or sixth receiver spot on the Detroit Lions' roster.
Wilson remembers moving from city to city when his father, Cedrick Wilson, was playing in the NFL two decades ago with the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, and he’s lived the bubble life himself for most of his nine-year career with four different teams.
A sixth-round pick out of Boise State in 2018 who cut his teeth at a junior college before that, Wilson figures he’s only had a couple years where he hasn’t had to worry about surviving cut day.
He missed his rookie season with the Cowboys
with a shoulder injury, spent part of the next year on the practice squad, didn’t start a game in Year 3 and parlayed a breakout Year 4 into a three-year free agent deal with the Miami Dolphins.
That contract gave Wilson some security, but when the Dolphins restructured his deal after one year, he went right back to life on the bubble.
He spent the 2024 season with the New Orleans Saints, returned to Miami when the Saints cut him the following summer, and signed a one-year deal with the Lions late this offseason knowing he wasn’t guaranteed a job.
“I'm a firm believer in putting one foot in front of the other,” Wilson said. “I go out there, do the best I can in practice, do the best I can in the games, and then like every year, you just wait, wait for that cut call. If you get it, you get it, and if you don't, you don't. And you just got to deal with what comes.”
A few months shy of his 31st birthday, Wilson already has had a career that’s exceeded his dreams in many ways.
He said he figured he’d be “fighting, scratching, and clawing” to keep a job as a late-round pick, and the fact he’s made it nine years is still hard to believe.
“It's a blessing to still be playing,” Wilson said. “I mean, most of my friends that I know, my best friend [Michael] Gallup that I had in Dallas, he's been done for what? He only did six [years], so I've gone three years past him.
“I talk to him all the time, and he's like, ‘Bro, you're still going.’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, man, I never would have thought.’ Didn't think I'd be going this long, especially not coming in as a sixth-round pick and bouncing, going up and down, going up and down. But that was a blessing. Just keep going, keep grinding.”
Wilson has been grinding long enough now for his oldest son, 5-year-old Cedrick III, to understand what his dad does for a living.
When Wilson caught a 23-yard pass in the Lions’ preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last week, his wife sent him video of his son watching on TV and celebrating the play.
Next week, Wilson’s family will move up to Detroit with tentative plans for his daughter, 7-year-old Sianna, to start school in September.
“And then if I make the team, obviously finish out here,” Wilson said. “If not, then just transfer back. They're used to it at this point. That's all we've done, been doing, moving around.”
The goal, of course, is to stick in Detroit this year, not just so his family can settle in but also to help a team that has championship aspirations.
Wilson, who’s caught 126 passes in his career for 1,524 yards and 12 touchdowns, is the most experienced receiver vying for a back-end roster spot in a competition Lions coach Dan Campbell has called an “all out” battle for a job.
Tom Kennedy, Dominic Lovett, Malik Cunningham and UFL refugees Tay Martin, Tarik Black and Lucky Jackson also are in the mix for one or two spots behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa and Greg Dortch.
“He’s a crafty, savvy veteran,” Campbell said. “Just knows how to play, man. He gets it. Smart dude, can play all the positions, goes up there and makes plays for us. And he'll mix it up and block. And he's played teams before.”
Wilson doesn’t have as much special teams value as Martin or Jackson, but his seasoning as a pass-catcher could help him make the roster.
He said he got “discouraged a little bit” early in his career when “I feel like I would have a good camp and [my team] would bring veteran guys in.”
Now that he’s the veteran, he understands the value of experience,
Still, with two preseason games left Saturday against the Washington Commanders and next week against the Indianapolis Colts, Wilson knows he’s down to his final few chances to impress Campbell, general manager Brad Holmes and others in his bid to win a job.
He missed time with a hip flexor early in camp but said he’s comfortable with the body of work he’s put forth so far.
“I'm a vet now,” Wilson said. “It's just, do what the coaches ask and blessed to keep coming out here until they tell me I'm not good enough so I can go home with these kids.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Life on roster bubble nothing new for Lions WR Cedrick Wilson Jr.
