It was a hard decision to release tight end Tony Scheffler, who was in his fourth season with the Lions.

With Scheffler gone the Lions had room on the roster to sign veteran offensive tackle Barry Richardson, a necessity with injuries to Corey Hilliard (knee), Riley Reiff (hamstring) and Jason Fox (knee).

Scheffler had missed the last two games after suffering a concussion on Oct. 6 in Green Bay. He had been cleared for contact.

“They’re all difficult decisions. Where we are on the offensive line, we had a couple of guys that weren’t able to finish the game and we needed to sign another guy,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said. “We had played the previous two games without Scheff, so we had sort of a plan for being able to deal with that, particularly in the short term. It’s a very difficult situation. He has been a really productive player for us who made a lot of plays for us. We have to move on and we have to concentrate on the Cowboys.”

Rookie tight end Joe Fauria stepped up in recent games and has seen much more playing time. Brandon Pettigrew is the only other tight end on the roster.

The 30-year-old Scheffler had seven catches for 82 yards in five games. 

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