Detroit Lions’ safety Brian Branch has been paying a tax to play football, not to the IRS, but to the NFL’s front office in New York. Over three seasons, the league has fined the safety over $130,000, a sum that has just increased and become a lot more complicated. 

In the fourth quarter, Detroit’s gritty 38-30 win over the Baltimore Ravens, a low block from the safety resulted in the most recent fine. The play cost the Lions 15 yards on the field, and Branch another $11,598 from his bank account. The player was hit with two separate $11,593 fines following the Packers game – one for taunting and another for a facemask penalty.

Head Coach Dan Campbell would be keeping a closer eye on all the penalties that the team is conceding. The thing is, not everyone saw a penalty. Even ESPN’s rules analyst, Russell Yurk, argued on-air that Branch looked more like a man who tripped than a guy executing a malicious, illegal block. But the league saw it differently and fined Branch.

This isn’t a one-off; it’s the 13th fine of his young career and his third this season alone. For context, he was the most-fined player in the entire NFL in 2024.

The league, however, stayed silent for receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. After hauling in seven passes for 77 yds and a critical TD, his expletive-laced celebration was picked up by a hot mic. He later apologized, but the NFL let it slide. For Branch, it seems, even an accidental stumble has a price tag.

The financial hit to the secondary was compounded by a physical one.

Campbell’s roster changes

Just as the bill for Branch’s penalty landed, the Campbell and team announced that Daniel Thomas, a key special teams contributor, was heading to injured reserve. After playing with a broken hand since Week 1, a separate forearm injury finally required surgery, sidelining him for at least 4 games.

Auburn product Thomas, a 2020 fifth-round pick, has seen minimal defensive action with just nine snaps in Week 2, focusing primarily on special teams with 50 snaps through three weeks. Thomas recorded two tackles and earned a solid 76.6 Pro Football Focus special teams grade while serving as a key gunner on punt coverage. Cornerback Khalil Dorsey will likely assume the gunner responsibilities during Thomas’s mandatory four-game injured reserve absence.

To help plug the gaps, the Lions elevated Jackson Meeks from the practice squad ahead of their game against the Cleveland Browns. 

Meeks isn’t just some camp body, though. The undrafted free agent from Syracuse—and nephew of former NFL rusher Za’Darius Smith—was a tough cut after he finished second in the entire league with 176 receiving yards in the preseason. The coaching staff believes he belongs. “I think he’s deserving,” wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery said earlier this month. “In this league, I think he’s a player that can play, play at a high level.”

So, as the Lions prepare for the Browns at Ford Field, and Calvin Johnson points to the only threat to Campbell’s Lions, the math in the defensive backs’ room gets a little tighter. One man lighter on the roster, another’s wallet a little lighter in his pocket.