Allen Park — Needing linebacker depth with starter Jack Campbell still hospitalized with a neck injury, and rookie Jimmy Rolder lost to a season-ending hamstring injury, the Detroit Lions are poaching veteran K.J. Britt off the New England Patriots practice squad.
ESPN first reported the pending transaction.
A fifth-round draft pick out of Auburn in 2021, Britt spent his first four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he overlapped with Detroit’s defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers.
A reserve who saw more than 800 special teams snaps his first three seasons, the six-foot, 240-pounder started 11 games as an outside linebacker in 2024, racking up 72 tackles for the Buccaneers.
Britt joined the Miami Dolphins in 2025, returning to primarily a special teams role, where he racked up a career-high 334 reps with those units.
Britt joined New England this offseason and landed on the team’s practice squad after being released at the end of training camp. He’s appeared in just one game this season, being used exclusively on special teams in the Week 5 contest.
His career usage points to Britt being viewed more as a potential replacement for Rolder. The rookie had averaged nearly 16 snaps on special teams through the first five games of his career.
Rolder played a season-high 17 defensive snaps in Sunday’s game against Minnesota, prior to exiting with the hamstring injury in the fourth quarter.
It feels ghoulish to be talking about it, but I hope the Lions are more ambitious than this. I’m watching the Bears and Seattle and what Simmons is doing for the Bears. Not saying the Lions should trade 2 first round picks, but some boldness to
reinforce LB and CB is called for.
Amazing. KJ Britt's page on Wikipedia has already been updated, showing him as a Detroit Lion, as of 8:15 pm, Monday. Jersey #35