The Detroit Lions have parted ways with veteran defensive back Jalen Mills, releasing him from the practice squad on Tuesday as the team navigates its bye week, via the NFL transaction wire.
Mills, 32, had exhausted the three standard practice-squad elevations permitted under NFL rules after being elevated for recent contests, including the Week 5 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Across two appearances this season, he logged three tackles while seeing a modest total of defensive and special-teams snaps.
Without a promotion to the 53-man roster, continued game availability would have required a new contract, a step the Lions ultimately declined to take.
The move closes a second stint in Detroit for the former seventh-round pick. The Lions claimed him off waivers last December after a brief stretch with the Houston Texans and used him in three late-season games.
He returned to the practice squad in mid-September 2026, shortly after the club lost starting safety Avonte Maddox for the year to a foot injury requiring surgery.
At the time, Detroit’s secondary was also dealing with the absence of Brian Branch, creating an immediate need for experienced depth. Mills filled that role as a versatile veteran capable of lining up at safety or in the slot.
His career has been defined by durability and adaptability. Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles out of LSU in 2016, Mills contributed to the Super Bowl LII championship team and developed into a regular starter.
He later spent three seasons with the New England Patriots, where he was shifted primarily to safety, before brief stops with the New York Giants and Jets and a short stay in Houston.
Entering 2026 he had already appeared in more than 120 regular-season games and started more than 90 of them, amassing hundreds of tackles, dozens of pass breakups, and eight interceptions.
For the Lions, the release arrives at a logical pause. With a bye week providing time for injured players to progress, the organization can reassess its secondary without immediately replacing Mills’ limited snaps.
Branch has been working his way back from an Achilles injury, and other depth options remain available.
Whether Detroit seeks another veteran free agent or leans on younger players already on the roster will become clearer as the team returns to practice.
Mills, meanwhile, is free to explore opportunities elsewhere, a familiar process for a player who has repeatedly found work as a reliable, if unspectacular, secondary option late in his career.
