Penisini was waived by the Saints on Monday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.
The defensive tackle played in 32 games with the Lions between the 2020 and 2021 seasons but has not appeared in an NFL game since. Penisini was waived from Carolina's reserve/PUP list last August.
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John Penisini: Announces retirement
Rotowire
Penisini announced his retirement Saturday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Penisini was drafted by the Lions in the sixth round of the 2020 Draft and appeared in 16 games in each of his first two seasons in the league. As a rookie he played 576 defensive snaps and recorded 35 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery. However, he saw his playing time dwindle last year and recorded only 14 tackles across 16 games.
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Lions' John Penisini: Five snaps in preseason finale
Rotowire
Penisini logged five defensive snaps during Friday's preseason finale against the Colts.
Penisini missed time during the start of training camp due to an undisclosed injury and the nose tackle then appeared out of place when he did get a look in Detroit's new defense. While he's now healthy, Penisini is not a lock for the final roster despite coming off a successful rookie year.
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Lions' John Penisini: Doesn't practice Monday
Rotowire
Penisini was absent from practice Monday for an undisclosed reason, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
Penisini was banged up in practice Wednesday and has been limited since then. Although he appeared without pads late last week, he wasn't seen on the field Monday. Whether he's available for Friday's preseason opener against Buffalo remain to be seen.
