WEDNESDAY, 4:24pm: Baldwin’s time as a Lion was short-lived — the team has waived the wide receiver with a failed physical designation, tweets Brian McIntyre.
TUESDAY, 6:21pm: The Lions’ claim of Baldwin is not yet official as the team still needs to evaluate his “medical situation,” coach Jim Caldwell told reporters, including Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com.
MONDAY, 3:37pm: The Lions have claimed wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin off waivers from the 49ers, according to Michael Schottey of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). Baldwin was cut by San Francisco over the weekend, but had to pass through waivers before becoming a free agent because of his limited service time.
Baldwin, who turns 25 next week, became the third wideout selected in the 2011 draft after A.J. Green and Julio Jones when the Chiefs picked him 26th overall. He ultimately went ahead of fellow wide receivers Torrey Smith, Randall Cobb and Cecil Shorts, but his numbers haven’t come close to matching the production of those players.
Baldwin only caught 41 passes for 579 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his two seasons in Kansas City. The Chiefs traded him to the 49ers last August for another first-round pick, A.J. Jenkins. Baldwin didn’t see the field much with San Francisco, as he had three receptions in seven games during the 2013 season.
In Detroit, Baldwin will be given the opportunity to earn a spot on the Lions’ receiving corps, where there should be at least a couple openings up for grabs in the preseason.