most surprising cuts by the Lions that hardly anyone saw coming

The cuts are done and the Detroit Lions final 53-man roster is in the books. Now it's time to talk about some of the moves that the Lions made that had us all scratching our heads in disbelief and saying "I did not see that coming."

Shane Zylstra

Seriously, this was really shocking. He had a good summer and made plays at camp and during the preseason. A lot more than James Mitchell did. We were so blown away by Zylstra that we wrote about him potentially having a breakout season in 2024. We were that sure he was making the final roster.

Nate Sudfeld

After a summer of the Lions telling us that they were going to keep three quarterbacks and that Sudfeld was the likely QB2, the Lions released him less than 24 hours after the last time they told us this stuff. So yeah, it was a bit surprising.

Isaac Ukwu

Really thought Ukwu had done enough to make the final 53-man roster, but ultimately he was cut. It's shocking that he got cut. It would be an even more shocking if he didn't make the Lions practice squad.

Kyle Peko

It just seemed like he was really trending towards getting a spot and a depth guy in the middle of the Lions defensive line. There were a lot of parallels to Benito Jones, but Peko is a better player. Ultimately he's been released and maybe the team can get him back to be on their practice squad.

Related: 5 players the Lions need to target on the waiver wire after final cuts