Instead of drafting Sewell, Cincinnati took wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, reuniting him with his LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. Chase has since blossomed into one of the league’s most dominant pass-catchers, while the Lions’ “consolation prize” at No. 7 has turned into one of the best offensive tackles in football.
And for Sewell, the way things played out couldn’t have been better.
“This is where I was meant to be from draft day on,” Sewell said.
The Lions travel to Cincinnati this Sunday, marking Sewell’s first game at Paycor Stadium since that fateful draft night. While some might expect him to carry a little extra edge against the team that passed on him, Sewell brushed off the idea.
“It’d be very different,” he said when asked about a world where he was drafted by the Bengals. “That’s all I got to say.”
And when pressed about whether this matchup means more because of the draft connection, he made it clear he’s not hung up on what could have been.
“I thought I was going to Cincy,” Sewell admitted. “There was a lot of talk between my agents and stuff like that. There was the possibility of going there, but here I am.”
Lions’ Cornerstone
“Here” has turned out to be exactly the right place. Sewell has become the anchor of Detroit’s offensive line, a two-time Pro Bowler, and one of the most important pieces of the Lions’ rise into Super Bowl contention under Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes.
So while Bengals fans may be thrilled with Chase, Lions fans know they ended up with the perfect fit, and Sewell knows it too.
“This is where I was meant to be,” he repeated. And on Sunday in Cincinnati, he’ll get a chance to remind everyone why.
Lions Part Ways With ‘Promising’ WR After Falling Down Depth Chart
The Detroit Lions cleared up some space on their roster by parting ways with a wide receiver who flashed some big potential in the preseason.
The team announced on Tuesday that receiver Ronnie Bell was released from the practice squad, a move that came after he had fallen to the bottom of the depth chart. The Lions used the open spot to bring in some reinforcements at linebacker, leaving Bell in search of a new NFL team.
Ronnie Bell Had a Knack for Touchdowns
Bell came into the NFL in 2023 as a seventh-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers and had a relatively productive season. He appeared in 17 games that year and served mostly on special teams, but added an unlikely scoring punch to the offense. Bell made six receptions for 68 yards, with three of those catches going for touchdowns.
Bell saw his role shrink in 2024, appearing in nine games and making two receptions for 22 yards. As Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, Bell came to the Lions early this year and showed some promise in the preseason.
Bell, a former Michigan standout, had a promising preseason with the Lions as he attempted to reboot his NFL career, but a logjam of depth at wide receiver made Bell expendable,” Risdon wrote. The Lions had elevated undrafted rookie Jackson Meeks off the practice squad over Bell in Sunday’s win against Cleveland.
Bell caught five of his six targets in the preseason for 62 yards. Though he missed making the active roster at final cutdowns, he was added back to the practice squad. It was a dire sign for Bell once Meeks was activated for this week’s game, however, and the Lions decided that his spot on the practice squad would be better served for a member of the defense.
Lions Add New Linebacker
As Risdon reported, the Lions used Bell’s spot on the practice squad to sign linebacker Ty Summers, who spent time with Detroit during the summer of 2024 but did not make the roster.
Summers spent the 2024 campaign with the New York Giants, playing in 16 games with two starts,” Risdon wrote. “The 6-1, 241-pound TCU product made 29 tackles and one PD in a little over 100 defensive snaps in New York. He began his NFL career in 2019 as a seventh-round pick by the Packers.
While Summers may provide some depth, the Lions are getting big contributions from a player at the top of the depth chart — Derrick Barnes. The Lions signed him to a three-year extension this offseason, which defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said was one of his biggest priorities on defense.
“I told him, ‘That’s a player I have to have,'” Sheppard told reporters. “I believe this kid can play four, five spots on the football field and do it at a high level. He can play all three stack backer spots, he can play defensive end. So when you’re able to have a player like that, you see them out in the apex in 11-person personnel – which is really a nickel spot.
“So when you have a player like that, it allows you that ability to present the same looks pre-snap and then post-snap be able to play a different variety of coverages, different variety of pressure packages and things like that.”
