The Detroit Lions waived former Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin this week, opening a 53-man roster spot less than two weeks before the regular-season opener (per the NFL.com transaction log).
For Buckeyes fans who watched him anchor the 2024 offensive line, it is another reminder of how quickly an NFL roster can close after a college peak.
McLaughlin arrived in Columbus via the transfer portal after four seasons at Alabama.
During his final year with the Buckeyes in 2024, he started the first 10 games, won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s outstanding center, earned consensus All-America honors and first-team All-Big Ten recognition, and helped an offense that ranked among the country’s best in fewest sacks and tackles for loss allowed. Ohio State went on to win the College Football Playoff national championship.
McLaughlin was unfortunately not on the field for the title run. A ruptured Achilles in a late-November practice ended his college career and dropped him from a projected mid-round draft pick to undrafted free agent.
He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after the 2025 draft, spent the entire rookie season on the practice squad, and never appeared in a regular-season game. Detroit then signed him to a reserve/future contract in January 2026.
When starting-center signee Cade Mays landed on injured reserve with a wrist injury, McLaughlin worked with veteran Juice Scruggs for the job. He even took first-team snaps in camp.
A concussion in the preseason finale against Indianapolis, combined with Detroit’s need for roster flexibility (the Lions are thin at receiver), cost him his spot. The Lions waived him without an injury designation, which means he can clear waivers and, if unclaimed, potentially return to Detroit’s practice squad.
That path is familiar for undrafted interior linemen. McLaughlin is 6-foot-4, 304 pounds, intelligent, and technically sound — traits that made him a Rimington winner after he rebuilt his confidence in Columbus following a rough finish at Alabama. Those same traits still give him a chance to stick somewhere.
Ohio State has sent a steady stream of offensive linemen to the NFL. McLaughlin’s one season in scarlet and gray was elite. The Lions move does not erase that.
It simply means the next opportunity — practice squad, another 53-man roster, another city — is now the assignment.
For a player who already transferred once and rehabbed a torn Achilles to reach an NFL camp, the work continues. Buckeye Nation will be watching where he lands next.
