The Detroit Lions have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL. A statement that was substantiated after the Patriots claimed a former Lions LB.

One of the most frequent themes from journalists and commentators this offseason has been that the Detroit Lions have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL. The New England Patriots’ claim of former Lions rookie linebacker Steele Chambers off waivers on Tuesday served as an example of that concept.

The Patriots were ranked third in the hierarchy of waiver claims at this point in the offseason because the NFL waiver system is still based on the record from the previous campaign. As a result, it’s unclear if New England beat them to the punch or if they were the only team to file a claim.

Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell’s tenure with the Lions has seen the team construct the roster brick by brick.

While it’s not uncommon to see players on the fringe of the 53-man roster get claimed and establish roles with another organization, it’s quite a bit more unusual to see players near the end of a 90-man roster get claimed mid-June.

While Chambers may not have necessarily been the 90th player on the Lions roster, per se—he was released to make room for another player at his position, linebacker Ben Niemann—it’s fair to say he was near the bottom, if the Lions were willing to move on from him at this stage of the offseason.

And for the player that the Lions essentially deemed not good enough to make it to training camp and challenge for a roster spot—even one on the practice squad—to be claimed, is a great illustration that this may be the deepest Lions roster we have seen in decades.