A former third-round pick of the Lions back in 2020, Okwara spent last season with the Cardinals. Playing in a limited capacity, Okwara totaled 18 tackles, three TFLs, and one sack in 13 games while making one start. Okwara has started only five of the 51 games he’s appeared in for his career and will likely serve as a rotational pass rusher for the Browns this season.

Okwara missed much of the 2023 season while on injured reserve. He appeared in nine games and was cut before the playoffs. The Lions then re-signed him to their practice squad. Okwara tallied five sacks in 2021 but has played a reduced role in recent years, resulting in just two sacks in each of the past two seasons. Given his solid performance a few years ago, this is a solid flier for a Philly defense that collapsed in 2023.

Okwara was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury to open the season, but is now eligible to return. The Lions will start his 21-day window to see how he looks in the coming days, but can activate him as early as Week 5 against the Panthers. Okwara has totaled seven sacks in 29 careers games and could provide an added boost to a Lions pass rush that’s already tied for the fourth-most sacks in the league.

This isn’t the start the Lions wanted to see out of their fourth-year pass rusher. Okwara has managed seven sacks through 29 career games, and burst onto the scene this preseason with a three-sack performance against the Giants. He’ll know be forced to miss at least the first four games of this season, and will be eligible to return in Week 5 when the Lions take on the Panthers. In a corresponding move, the Lions signed running back Craig Reynolds from the practice squad.