Lions follow through on threats, release wide receiver Titus Young

The Detroit Lions released 2011 second-round wide receiver Titus Young on Monday, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com reports.

Young has been fairly productive for the Lions, catching 81 passes for 990 yards and 10 touchdowns in largely a reserve role during his 26-game career. Young played in nearly two-thirds of the Lions' offensive snaps as a rookie and in 50 percent of the plays during a tumultuous 2012 season. The reason behind the former Boise State standout's release stems from off-field issues, particularly his bouts of insubordination.

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Young was sent home by the Lions on three occasions during the 2012 season. The first instance occurred when Young sucker-punched teammate Louis Delmas during the offseason workouts. Young was also late for team meetings and the last straw took place when he intentionally lined up in the wrong spot during a Nov. 18 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

After that final instance, Young was inactive for two weeks before placing on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Young's status with the Lions crept back into the spotlight during Senior Bowl week when the 23-year-old emerged from a prolonged Twitter silence to go on a rant.

"Like I said I never been selfish but if I'm not going to get the football i don't want to play anymore" Young wrote in a tweet that Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported has since been deleted.

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Lions head coach Jim Schwartz was coaching at the Senior Bowl and when asked about Young's comment, suggested that talking through social media wasn't the best approach a player could take. Young heard the comments and replied in a tweet that remains live on his page.

"Oh I'm not done, if y'all going to cut me let me go. I'm tired of the threats," Young tweeted.

On Monday, the Lions will follow through on the threat and Young will be exposed to the NFL waiver wire. Young has two seasons and $1.787 million remaining on his rookie contract. Included in that are base salaries of $555,000 in 2013 and $645,000 in 2014. Young also has reporting bonuses of $184,666 in 2013 and $301,998 in 2014, plus $50,000 workout bonuses in each year of the contract.

Young's release will clear $335,335 in cap space for the Lions. The team will also save $789,666 in cash this season, $996,998 in 2014 plus whatever they were spending on buffered aspirin to combat their Young-induced headaches.

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