In 2022, the Detroit Lions finished with a 9-8 record, just missing the playoffs right at the end of the regular season, and compiling the franchise’s first winning record since 2017. The Lions and head coach Dan Campbell did so despite a defense that ranked 28th in Defensive DVOA, and a secondary that allowed opposing offenses to put up some pretty garish numbers. The Lions’ cornerbacks and safeties allowed 171 completions on 295 attempts for 2,657 yards, 17 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 95.8, which was the fourth-worst in the NFL behind only the Titans, Chiefs, and Panthers. Detroit’s EPA allowed of 28.18 among their secondary was also the NFL’s fourth-worst, behind the Raiders, Bears, and Falcons, and their Positive Play Rate allowed of 47.1% was the NFL’s sixth-worst.
Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes knew that changes needed to be made if the Lions were to take a major step forward in 2023, and with two picks (sixth and 19th) in the first round of the upcoming draft, most everybody has auto-slotting the best available cornerback prospect to Detroit with that first pick in their mock drafts. That may still happen when mocks become reality in the last week of April, but the Lions’ braintrust also knew that they didn’t want to wait until the draft to start sorting it all out — free agency would have to provide more than one piece of the puzzle.
To the credit of that braintrust, the Lions went all-out and got three new members of their secondary; all potential impact players on team-friendly deals.
- Cornerback Cameron Sutton signed a three-year, $33 million contract with $22.5 million guaranteed;
- Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley signed a one-year, $6 million deal with $2 million guaranteed; and
- Safety/slot defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed a one-year, $8 million contract.
And with that, the Lions completely remade their secondary for less than other teams might spend on one really good cornerback. It was a series of masterstrokes by Holmes and his staff, and here’s why these deals will matter so much for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and his staff.