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Lions first-round pick Laken Tomlinson could be on roster bubble

Caption: Aug 18, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions offensive guard Laken Tomlinson (72) stands on the field after a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Lions exhausted a lot of capital on upgrading the offensive line in free agency earlier in March. The team doled out a combined $76 million on tackle Rick Wagner and guard T.J. Lang.

Obviously, this wasn’t a huge vote of confidence in the direction of 2015 first-round pick Laken Tomlinson. The Duke product has started double-digit games in each of his first two seasons with the team, but he struggled a great deal as a sophomore this past year.

Now, it sure looks like the guard’s roster spot could be in jeopardy.

“Laken’s (Tomlinson) still here,” Lions general manager Bob Quinn told reporters on Wednesday, via the Detroit Free Press. “Laken’s going to compete at the left guard spot, and we’ll head into training camp and OTAs with really good depth and really good competition across the board.”

It would be surprising to see any team move on from a first-round pick after just two seasons. That’s only magnified when it comes to a Lions squad that lost fellow guard Larry Warford in free agency before signing Lang.

In competition with Tomlinson for the starting left guard position are second-year players Graham Glasgow and Joe Dahl. If Tomlinson does not win the starting job, it would make financial sense for the team to move on from him completely. Though, it would also make more sense for Detroit to look at trade options first.

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