Lions to bring back safety CJ Moore after his gambling suspension

The Detroit Lions are expected to bring back veteran safety CJ Moore, per Ian Rapoport and other reports. It’s not official yet, but the indications are that Moore will sign a one-year deal to come back to Detroit.

Moore, now 28, played 5 games for the Lions from 2019 through 2022 after joining Detroit as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Ole Miss. He missed the entire 2023 season after being suspended for a full year by the NFL for violations of the league’s gambling policy.

The league reinstated Moore and three other former Lions players who were all released by Detroit after the year-long suspensions for the gambling violations. It’s the same situation that cost wide receiver Jameson Williams four games in 2023 after an initial six-game suspension.

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While Moore didn’t play a lot on defense — only 344 snaps in four seasons — he was a fixture on special teams units for Detroit across two different coaching regimes. Given the current depth chart at safety, Moore could be counted on to play more defense in 2024 even though special teams figures to still be his forte. Detroit has starters Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu at safety and no other player who has ever taken a snap in the NFL at the position backing them up.