Tight end Tim Wright cleared waivers today and will remain with the Lions, who placed him on injured reserve with a torn ACL (Twitter links via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com). Despite re-signing Wright in March, the Lions waived/injured him on Thursday, though it wasn’t made public at the time that he had such a serious knee issue. 
The 26-year-old Wright, whom Detroit acquired from Tampa Bay for kicker Kyle Brindza last August, racked up just nine catches in as many appearances for the Lions in 2015. He was more relied on in Tampa and New England, respectively, combining for 80 grabs and 11 touchdowns in 32 appearances (10 starts) from 2013-14. Wright’s best individual campaign came as a rookie for the Buccaneers, with whom he amassed career highs in targets (76), receptions (54), scores (five), yards (571) and per-catch average (10.6). After a year with the Patriots, who traded guard Logan Mankins and a fourth-round pick for him, Wright returned to the Bucs on waivers last offseason before they shipped him to the Motor City.
With Wright out of the equation for 2016, the Lions’ tight end depth chart currently consists of Eric Ebron, Brandon Pettigrew, Matthew Mulligan, and a pair of rookies in Adam Fuehne and Cole Wick.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.