ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Ryan Broyles' locker was emptier than most late Saturday afternoon.

Instead of the typical clutter defining the lockers of most NFL players -- especially veterans with experience and years with the same team -- Broyles’ locker was pretty bare beyond the standard-issue fare.

This was a bad sign for the veteran receiver, something that became official when Broyles announced Monday morning he had been released.

The truth is this has been coming for a while now and it became obvious as training camp moved along when you looked at the players Broyles was competing against. Take Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate out of it, because they’ve been roster locks since the beginning.

Corey Fuller has the size and speed. Lance Moore had years of proven production, including multiple years in a similar offense. Jeremy Ross offers more on special teams and could still end up as Detroit’s returner. TJ Jones also does more on special teams and is younger with more potential. Greg Salas took advantage of opportunities and had a better camp.

If you’re trying to understand why Broyles has been cut, you can start there.

Broyles entered training camp as one of the more intriguing receivers on the roster. A former second-round pick out of Oklahoma, his career never got on a healthy track. He came into the league with one torn ACL. He tore the other one in 2012, his rookie season. The next year, he ruptured his Achilles fielding a punt in a game.

He made the roster in 2014, but barely played. That left him mostly healthy for the first time in his NFL career, but he didn’t see the field. He entered camp completely healthy and remained that way except for a small injury that kept him out of practice for a couple of days.

For the first time in his career, he wouldn’t have to answer questions about injuries. He didn’t have to worry about taking it easy or what would happen if he cut wrong or got hit poorly. He also prepared for life after football, telling me earlier in camp he had been living on around $60,000 a year and banking away as much money as possible. This allowed him to play free and loose, even though he knew a roster spot was not assured as he entered a contract year.

Unlike the players mentioned above, Broyles never really received any work with the first unit -- another sign that making the roster likely wasn’t going to happen.

“We’re looking at the entire body of work and the guy has an opportunity to get out there and show what he can do and sometimes it just doesn’t work that way,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Saturday in response to a question about Broyles. “Nevertheless, he’s been here, too. He’s not necessarily one that we have no idea what he’s been capable of and those kinds of things.”

So the Lions felt they knew what they had in Broyles -- and now they are moving on. It is a cut that might sting fans more, mostly because they saw Broyles as a high draft pick, someone who helped in the community, always smiled no matter what he was going through even as he tried to get healthy over and over again. They also saw the production in his fleeting moments of health and wondered why there wasn't more.

The Lions coaching staff never really explained that and now that he is healthy, he won’t get to show what he could do in Detroit. There’s a chance another team will take a shot on him -- that could come as soon as this week -- but with a logjam at receiver, Broyles always seemed as if he would be the odd player out.

“He’s a good player now. The thing about it with him, or whomever else out of that receiving corps, I think everybody knows it’s a very, very tight race and there are going to be some good football players that we have to let go,” Caldwell said. “We can’t keep them all. That’s not the way it works.

“We have to make a decision on what best suits us at this particular time, what we think puts us in the best position to win, make our decision and move on.”