The Detroit Lions poach a linebacker from the Denver Broncos.
The Lions have signed linebacker Kwon Alexander from the Broncos' practice squad to their own 53-man roster. Denver could have prevented this by promoting Alexander, but the team previously chose to promote Zach Cunningham from the practice group to the active roster earlier this week.
The news was spread ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday morning and has since been confirmed by several Points of sale. Detroit added Alexander after losing Malcolm Rodriguez a knee injury on Thanksgiving.
Alexander (6-1, 227 pounds) took advantage of his three workouts in Denver by switching with Justin Strnad (6-3, 235 pounds) at inside linebacker starting Weeks 7-9. Alexander even started two of these games and achieved a season high 31 snapshots in week 9. Strnad's snapshots dropped from 42 to 37 to 14 in the games Alexander played.
Alexander totaled eight tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble in his three games with Denver before landing in Detroit.
Alexander, a 30-year veteran, and Cunningham joined the practice group in September after the Broncos lost Alex Singleton to a season-ending knee injury. Cody Barton and Strnad started at inside linebacker. Cunningham and Levelle Bailey will be Denver's remaining depth options after the team loses Alexander.