Last week, the Detroit Lions hosted free agent nose tackle Taki Taimani for a visit. On Tuesday, they announced that Taimani has signed to their practice squad. To make room, the Lions released wide receiver Lawrence Keys from the practice squad.
Taimani first entered the league in 2024 as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings and even made their initial 53-man roster in his rookie season. He played in seven games that year (70 total defensive snaps, 34 special teams) before an ankle injury landed him on injured reserve for the final 10 games. The following year, Taimani spent most of the season on the Vikings’ practice squad, seeing the call-up for just two games in the 2025 season.
This past year, he was waived with an injury designation late in training camp, and was released from the team’s injured reserve list in mid-September.
Taimani is a big man, last listed at 6-foot-1, 324 pounds. In his brief appearances in games for the Vikings, he played multiple defensive tackle spots, including nose tackle. Prior to his time in the NFL, he was praised for his strength and anchoring ability as a two-gapper.
Detroit doesn’t have a ton of run-stuffing defensive tackles on their roster outside of Alim McNeill and Tyleik Williams, although they did re-sign rookie Aidan Keanaaina to the practice squad last week.
More interestingly, the Lions play the Vikings this week. So can Taimani help Detroit prepare for their second straight divisional home game?