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The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday they have signed former Las Vegas Raiders offensive lineman Netane Muti to a futures deal. Muti finished the season on the Raiders’ practice squad, and because he wasn’t offered a futures deal by Vegas in the week after their season ended, he became a “street” free agent eligible to sign with any other team immediately.
Muti, 24, is a former 2020 sixth-round pick of the Denver Broncos. Over the course of three seasons in Denver, Muti started four games—two at left guard, two at right guard—and made a total of 20 game appearances. In late 2022, the Raiders poached Muti off the Broncos practice squad, and he’s essentially been on and off the Vegas roster/practice squad since.
At 6-foot-3, 307 pounds, Muti is a bit of a mauler in the run game. In college at Fresno State—where he played both tackle and guard—he helped produce an effective run game for the Bulldogs, who averaged 155.0 rushing yards in 2017. However, his college career was marred by injuries, including two season-ending Achilles injuries (2016, 2018).
The Lions enter the 2024 offseason with plenty of questions about their future at guard. All three potential starters—Jonah Jackson, Graham Glasgow, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai—are set to become unrestricted free agents, although the Lions have expressed interest in bringing Glasgow back, and last offseason they had internal discussions about re-signing Jackson.
That said, the Lions appear to be building depth at the position. They already signed Michael Niese and Matt Farniok to futures deals, and Kayode Awosika is almost certainly going to be back as an exclusive rights free agent.
In other words, Muti will have plenty of competition when offseason workouts begin in April.
The Lions have signed a total of 13 players to futures deals thus far: RB Jermar Jefferson, RB Jake Funk, WR Tom Kennedy, WR Maurice Alexander, WR Daurice Fountain, OT Connor Galvin, G Matt Farniok, G Netane Muti, G Michael Niese, DT Chris Smith, EDGE Mitchell Agude, CB Craig James, and S Brandon Joseph.
