Shortly after Lions cornerback Aaron Berry was arrested for the second time this year, his lawyer offered a predictable statement about withholding judgment until the facts come out. But some in Detroit think it’s time for the Lions to make a statement by cutting Berry now.
Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski is among those saying that it’s time for the Lions to change their reputation as the NFL’s biggest troublemakers by sending Berry packing.
“It’s incredible what has unfolded this offseason, and it will stir talk again about the Lions’ lack of discipline and how GM Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz need to do more.,” Wojnowski writes. “The NFL certainly will crack down, as it did on running back Mikel Leshoure, who’s suspended the first two games for two marijuana-related arrests. . . . But in Berry’s case, the severe lack of judgment, especially involving a gun, makes it impossible for the Lions to sit back. If the charges are proven, he’ll likely get suspended anyhow, so releasing him isn’t that much of a leap.”
Berry is far from a great player, but he is expected to be a starting cornerback for the Lions this season, and it seems unlikely that the Lions would cut a starting cornerback over off-field issues, no matter how serious.
But the Lions ought to do something to get their players’ attention. Just releasing perfunctory statements about how they’re “extremely disappointed” isn’t enough.