The Worst Cuts All 32 NFL Teams Have Ever Made
By Erik Lambert
Detroit Lions
S. Michigan. Dwight Hicks . 11. player. 50.
A lot of good players are on this list but the Detroit Lions had the hard luck of letting a great one slip through their fingers. It should’ve been a slam dunk. He was a standout at Michigan. They were his home state team. Yet he never even suited up for them. He was cut before the regular season in 1978 and went north to try his hand in the CFL for a year.
If only practice squads existed back then. Detroit began to learn their mistake not long after. Hicks was picked up off the street by the San Francisco 49ers. His first year with the team he became their starting safety and had five interceptions. By the time he left in 1986, he’d gone to four Pro Bowls, snagged 30 interceptions and claimed two Super Bowl rings.