Lions Sign Ex-Titans RB, Pair of CBs Before Start of Training Camp

The Detroit Lions have added reinforcements to their roster at running back and cornerback ahead of their first practice of 2025 NFL training camp next week.

According to the team’s official transaction wire, the Lions signed second-year running back Jabari Small and cornerbacks Tyson Russell and DiCaprio Bootle on Friday to their 90-man roster after hosting them and four other players for workouts earlier this week.

Small spent the 2024 season on the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad and is still waiting to play his first regular-season snap in the NFL, but he averaged more than 5 yards per carry and scored 26 total touchdowns over his four-year collegiate career at Tennessee.

With the Lions, Small will have an opportunity to compete for a depth role in their 2025 rushing rotation behind lead backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery during camp. The Lions also have veteran Craig Reynolds, Sione Vaki (2024 fourth-round pick) and undrafted rookie Kye Robichaux in the mix, looking to win in-season roster spots.

The Lions will welcome back their veteran players to their team facility on July 19 after rookies and non-quarterbacks reported for duty earlier this week on July 16. They are due to hold their first practice of camp during “Back Together Weekend” on July 26.

Jabari Small Must Demonstrate Special-Teams Value

Small showed flashes of his playmaking ability in college with the Volunteers. The 5-foot-11, 206-pound back never exceeded 800 rushing yards in a single season, but he did rush for 22 total touchdowns between his sophomore and junior years, running in a career-best 13 in 2022 while putting up 734 rushing yards and 106 receiving yards.

Unless Small pops out of the backfield like a firecracker for the Lions in camp, though, he will likely need to demonstrate his ability to contribute on special teams to have any shot of making the team’s initial 53-man roster for the 2025 season.

The Lions are mostly settled at the running back position heading into camp. They will expectably rely on Gibbs and Montgomery to handle the majority of the workload out of their backfield in 2025. Behind them, they also have two familiar faces in Reynolds and Vaki, whom they can trust to pick up the slack if either of their leads needs a reprieve.

While that does not mean Small will have zero chance of making the roster, it does put him in an awkward spot as a young player with limited special-teams experience.

New Lions CBs Will Face Uphill Battle to Make Roster

The Lions’ other new additions — cornerbacks Russell and Bootle — won’t have a much easier time than Small trying to earn roster spots with the team coming out of camp.

After a 2024 season filled with injuries, the Lions took significant steps to secure their cornerback room during the 2025 offseason. Not only did they sign three new veterans in free agency (D.J. Reed, Rock Ya Sin and Avonte Maddox), but they also brought back two of last year’s depth cornerbacks in Khalil Dorsey and Stantley Thomas-Oliver III.

That makes for a crowded position group with Terrion Arnold, Amik Robertson and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. also returning to the fold — and adds to the challenge for lesser-known cornerbacks to establish themselves with the Lions and vie for roster roles.