Saivion Smith needs a new NFL team to continue his comeback from a frightening injury. The Detroit Lions waived the former Alabama defensive back with an injury settlement on Wednesday, and no team claimed Smith before 3 p.m. CDT Thursday, turning him into an unrestricted free agent.

Because the Lions waived Smith with an injury settlement and not an injury designation, he did not revert to Detroit’s injured-reserve list, which would have ended his 2023 season.

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With an injury settlement, a player gets money from the team, usually based on the number of games the injury would have sidelined him. In Smith’s case, he’ll be eligible to sign with another team when he’s healthy.

Smith sustained a toe injury in the Lions’ 25-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday and had not returned to practice.

Smith played his only game of the 2022 season on Oct. 9, when he came off the practice squad to start at safety for Detroit against the New England Patriots.

On the Patriots’ second offensive snap, Smith jammed New England tight end Hunter Henry, who was lined up in the slot, as the receiver came off the line of scrimmage. After contacting Henry with his helmet, Smith spun and fell face first to the turf at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Henry had a 23-yard reception on the play, but the attention quickly shifted back down the field, where medical personnel attended to Smith, who was momentarily unable to move. He was placed on a backboard and taken to a hospital for evaluation of a neck injury.

The Lions placed Smith on injured reserve on Oct. 19, and he underwent fusion surgery on Nov. 8 to correct a bulging disc.

Detroit signed Smith again on April 17.

Smith left Alabama after the 2018 campaign with one season of eligibility remaining. He wasn’t selected in the 2019 NFL Draft and signed as a rookie free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville waived Smith at the end of the preseason as it reduced its roster to the regular-season limit.

In 2020, Smith played for the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL before that league stopped its season prematurely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Smith spent the 2020 NFL season mainly as a member of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad. But he also played in six games, including one start. He was on the field for 75 defensive snaps and 84 special-teams plays and made three tackles.

Waived by the Cowboys in May 2021, Smith was claimed by the Seattle Seahawks, but they released him on the eve of training camp. He joined the Denver Broncos in time for the 2021 preseason. When Smith didn’t make the regular-season roster, Denver signed him for its practice squad, where he spent the first seven weeks of the season.

The San Francisco 49ers signed Smith to their active roster on Dec. 11, 2021. After playing on special teams in San Francisco’s 26-23 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith was waived again. Claimed off waivers by the Lions, he played on special teams in Detroit’s next two games.

After not making the Lions’ 53-man roster coming out of the preseason, Smith was signed for the practice squad and was playing in his 10th NFL regular-season game when he got hurt.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.