Early Saturday morning, Detroit Lions safety Brandon Joseph was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence. And now he is no longer with the team.
Brandon Joseph was pulled over for speeding at around 1:47 a.m. on Saturday. He was taken into custody “for a few hours” before he was released, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“He was very compliant, he was very respectful,” DHPD director Paul Vanderplow said.
“He went through the battery of tests, through those tests now we have some analysis to go through before charges can be done, as we do with any other suspicion of OUI. He’ll go through that process, and then go through the court process like anybody else.”
The Lions declined to comment on the arrest on Saturday evening, according to the Detroit Free Press, but they quickly made a decision on his future with the team.
Following Joseph’s arrest, the team waived him and return man Maurice Alexander while activating Ifeatu Melifonwu from injured reserve and signing three players off the practice squad – receiver Tom Kennedy and defensive linemen Chris Smith and Mitchell Agude.
Joseph signed with the Lions last spring as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame.
This season, Joseph has played about 20 percent of the Lions’ defensive snaps as the team’s third safety. He has also seen about a quarter of special-teams snaps this season.
Clearly, the team was not happy with his arrest and have decided to move on.
We’ll have to see how the team chooses to replace him.