The Detroit Lions fizzled out sooner than they wanted in the 2024-25 season, in large part because the roster was running on fumes by the time they reached the playoffs.

The defense missed upward of 20 players at a time toward the end of the regular season, putting more pressure on the bodies remaining on the field.

However, just because the roster struggled to stay healthy this season yet still saw a lot of success doesn’t mean they should necessarily run it back with the same guys.

There are a handful of contributors that the Lions would likely be better off moving on from in 2025.

Kindle Vildor

The much-maligned Kindle Vildor is probably the easiest Lions free agent to let go this offseason.

Vildor occupied the impossible space of being a fine special teams player who was thrust into extended time as a corner on a team with championship aspirations. Unfortunately, he did not excel in that role, ranking 115th of all qualifying cornerbacks in the league according to Pro Football Focus’s Player Grades.

There isn’t much of an argument to be made in Vildor’s favor. He’s just not worth signing.

Allen Robinson

Add another player to the “He’s still in the league?” radar.

Outside of devout Lions fans, it’s hard to imagine many people knowing Allen Robinson has actually seen the field on occasion this season. It’s possible Robinson is a good locker room guy or a nice practice player at this point in his career, but at age 31 without any recent tangible success, it wouldn’t hurt to let him walk and focus on the possibility of bringing back Tim Patrick who excelled in that third wide receiver role.

Emmanuel Moseley

I spent all season yelling to the skies, “Where is Emmanuel Moseley?”

Moseley was active for only two games all season after a fairly pedestrian 2023 compared to the success he saw in San Francisco before the Lions picked him up.

Despite being reportedly healthy for parts of the season and the rest of the defense falling around him, he still didn’t get into the game. He was recovering from a knee injury he sustained before the 2024-25 season, but at several points, he was said to be healthy and saw some snaps on special teams.

There may still be a future for Moseley in this league, but the Lions clearly needed corners who could consistently contribute this season and he wouldn’t necessarily be missed.

Ifeatu Melifonwu

Despite some key moments for the Lions over the last couple of seasons, Ifeatu Melifonwu is not ranked high on the list of free agents that the Lions need to focus on bringing back.

Melifonwu played in only four games this season due to injuries, a chronic issue for the safety. In those games he played at or below league average, including a dismal performance in the team’s loss to the Commanders.

Following a stellar 2023 season, 2024 did not do Iffy any favors, and the Lions could likely afford to focus on re-signing Carlton Davis and lean more on assembling elite pass rushers than investing long-term in a league-average player who doesn’t carry any specialization to the positions he plays.