The well-known scene that accompanies a player’s departure from the roster is someone telling that player to get his playbook and go see the coach to get the bad news.
Things may have played out that way with wide receiver Jon Baldwin in Detroit, however. For one thing, Baldwin may not have been a member of the Lions long enough to even get a playbook and, for another, the writing on the wall was so hard to miss that it might not have been necessary to go through all of the normal procedures.
The Lions waived Baldwin because of a failed physical on Wednesday, two days after claiming him off waivers from the 49ers. The team didn’t like the condition of Baldwin’s knee after Tuesday’s physical and coach Jim Caldwell said that they were evaluating how to proceed based on the information. They opted to move on without Baldwin, who they had seen as an option to play behind Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.
It’s the latest disappointing turn for Baldwin in a career that has seen more than a few of them pile up since Kansas City made him the 26th overall pick in 2011. We’ll see if he gets a chance to make a more positive impression once he’s healthy this season.