Ex-Pro Bowler Quin released by Detroit
Former Lobo star, 33, led league in interceptions in 2014
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions have released former University of New Mexico player Glover Quin, cutting ties with the 33-year-old safety who had one year left on his contract.
Detroit also released wide receiver Bruce Ellington and linebacker Nicholas Grigsby on Friday.
Quin, a Pro Bowler in 2014 when he led the league in interceptions with seven, started every game last season for the ninth straight year.
Houston drafted Quin in 2009 in the fourth-round pick and he started 12 games as a rookie. He started every game over the following three years for the Texans. He signed a five-year deal in 2013 and an extension in 2017 in Detroit.
Lions general manager Bob Quinn says Quin made countless contributions for the franchise and exemplified everything it meant to be a true professional in the NFL on the field and in the community.
BRONCOS: Even though Brandon Marshall was expecting it, Friday’s news that he had likely played his last game in a Denver uniform threw him for a loop.
“It’s just different when it’s in the news and everybody knows about it and it’s not just you and your agent talking about it,” Marshall said after the Broncos told his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, that they don’t plan to pick up the linebacker’s option.
There’s a possibility Marshall, 29, could return to Denver, but he said he’s expecting to find interest on the open market when free agency opens March 13, even after limping through two injury-riddled seasons in the last three years.
“I’ll be wanted. For sure. I’ll be good,” Marshall said. “All my options are open right now. Whatever’s the best fit for me.”
As for his health, he said, “I’m getting there,” after missing more than a month with a bruised knee in 2018.
Marshall, who was due $6.5 million next season with a cap hit of about $9 million, has been limited to 11 games in two of the last three seasons.
BILLS: Buffalo released underperforming and high-priced veteran tight end Charles Clay.
The move was announced Friday, and did not come as a surprise after Clay’s playing time diminished behind Jason Croom and Logan Thomas over the final six weeks of last season.
Clay had one season left on a five-year contract, and was due to make a $4.5 million base salary.
Clay’s production dropped off considerably last year. In 13 games, the eighthyear player finished with 21 catches for 184 yards and no touchdowns, which were all lows during his four seasons in Buffalo. Overall, Clay had 339 catches for 1,822 yards and nine touchdowns in 54 games with the Bills.
CHARGERS: Los Angeles will not pick up the option on defensive tackle Corey Liuget’s contract.
General manager Tom Telesco told the team website Wednesday he is not closing the door on a possible return even though Liuget will become an unrestricted free agent March 13.
Liuget, the longest-tenured Charger, would have earned a base salary of $4 million and a $4.5 million roster bonus had he still been on the roster at the start of the new league year.
HERNANDEZ: The 6-year-old daughter of the late NFL player Aaron Hernandez missed a 2014 deadline to opt out of the league’s concussion settlement and can’t separately pursue a $20 million suit over his diagnosis of a degenerative brain disease, a judge ruled in Philadelphia.
Hernandez’s death in 2017 came too late for his family to seek up to $4 million in compensation for suicides related to chronic traumatic encephalopathy under the class-action settlement.