Tag: carlton davis

Lions have a long term plan at cornerback after the 2024 NFL Draft

Lions have a long term plan at cornerback after using their first two picks of the 2024 NFL Draft on Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw

Catching Lions fans by surprise, the Detroit Lions selected Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw with the 61st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This caught fans off guard because on the opening night of the draft, the Lions moved up and selected Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold with the 24th overall pick.

Now some may look at Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell and say they’re trying to be the “smartest guys in the room” by doubling down at the cornerback position. Before you think that, just look at what the Philadelphia Eagles did with their first two picks of the year. They did the exact same thing so let’s just hit the brakes.

Fortunately, there’s a general consensus to trust Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell when it comes to the way they attack the draft process They operate with conviction and they trust their process. For the 2024 NFL Draft, not only did the Lions draft good football players but they showed that they’re preparing for the future.

It’s not a move that we’ve seen very often as Lions fans but a long term plan at the cornerback position is a smart move by Detroit. For starters, they only have Carlton Davis and Emmanuel Moseley under contract for this upcoming season. Additionally, they only signed Amik Robertson to a two-year contract.

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Despite having those veteran defensive backs, there’s longevity concerns with Davis and Moseley. Both players have dealt with multiple injuries over the last two seasons. Most importantly, it was clear that the Lions had issues in the secondary last season.

The Lions allowed the 6th most passing yards per game (247.4 passing yards) and the 6th most passing touchdowns (28 passing touchdowns) in the NFL last season. Getting a plan in place to improve their secondary was a priority this off-season and it’s clear the Lions front office felt the same way.

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Adding Rakestraw and Arnold gives the Lions their future number one and number two cornerbacks. They are the exact type of players that the Lions value. Tough and hard nosed football players that get after it every chance they get. For both players, I described them both as willing run defenders that embrace contact on the perimeter.

According to PFF run defense scores, the top-2 scores belong to Arnold (90.6) and Rakestraw (89.0). Those are the exact players that will be valued in Detroit under this regime. Here’s my overall projections on both players from my 2024 NFL Draft Guide:

Terrion Arnold — “Arnold enters the NFL with the projection of being a number one cornerback. Defenses searching for a corner that excels in man coverage will love the talent possessed by Arnold. He plays physical and loves contact and competition from the opposition. His aggressiveness will get him trouble as it appears to cause his technique to get wild or it’ll take him out of position. But his fluidity, effort and ability to press and lockdown receivers is encouraging for his development in the NFL.”

Ennis Rakestraw — “Rakestraw is a highly competitive cornerback that is tough and physical. His length helps him jam and redirect defenders while battling at the catch point. Productive in both man and zone coverage, he appears best suited as a press-man corner in the NFL. His aggressiveness in the run game is a plus on the perimeter but his physicality can become troublesome downfield in coverage. If Rakestraw can stay healthy, he can be a number two cornerback in a defense looking for another man defender.”

With Terrion Arnold, he needs to clean up some of his lower body technique as he tends to leave his feet too early and his lower half doesn’t always follow or flow evenly with the rest of his body.

As for Rakestraw, he will get flagged due to his physical nature but the biggest key for him is staying healthy. The ACL injury in 2021 and groin injury in 2023 will be worth monitoring. Oddly enough, I compared Rakestraw to current Lions cornerback Emmanuel Moseley.

No matter the pro comparisons and some of the slight knocks to both players games, I’m very excited for their development in Detroit. To me, the Lions got great value with Rakestraw and in all honesty, the same could be said about Arnold. After all, the Crimson Tide defender was my top ranked corner and my 14th ranked player in the draft.

Getting better on defense was clearly a big part of the Lions agenda this off-season. Fortunately, they developed a plan and stuck to it. On paper, it makes sense and appears to be a great plan. We’ll see how it transitions to success on the field but right now, the future looks bright in the Lions secondary.

Carlton Davis may be the biggest acquisition of the Lions offseason

Carlton Davis may be the biggest acquisition of the Lions offseason because he lets the defense play the way Dan Campbell wants

The Lions had a season for the ages last year but throughout it, there was one major aspect of defense that was lacking, pass defense. Several quarterbacks had major games against the Lions secondary in 2023 including Justin Fields, who was traded for a 2025 NFL Draft pick, and Nick Mullens who may be on the Vikings practice squad.

That problem came to be a front-and-center issue in the NFC Championship Game when Brock Prudy led the 49ers to a monumental comeback. The Lions front office and coaching staff knew it was an issue and they got aggressive this offseason in an effort to fix it.

Brad Holmes traded the team’s third-round pick for Carlton Davis, who is considered one of the best man coverage cornerbacks in the league. Dan Campbell couldn’t be more excited to have him on the roster.

“There are just things he can do where he can take his side of the field away, at times, just to have some of that, man, goes a long way for the rest of the defense, and what (Aaron Glenn) is going to be able to call. Man, that’s going to help. And that’s really something we felt we haven’t had here since we’ve been here.”

Being able to play man, though, affects more than just one area. The entire defense benefits, especially the safety group. The safeties last year were monumental in run support. By having better man coverage they have less responsibilities and can focus on just one task per play. Campbell went further explaining its importance.

“Being able to play man is no different than being able to run the football or stop the run. It’s kind of one of our core values to be a good team. You want to be able to play man when called upon. So, yeah, this certainly will give AG (Aaron Glen) more flexibility in what to call, I believe.”

We saw what the run game did for the offense. If man coverage can do that for the defense, then this is a complete football team.

Several Lions reap contract rewards on the 5th day of the league year

Several Detroit Lions reap contract rewards on the 5th day of the league year as written into their deals

The fifth day of the new NFL league year is always a busy one for contracts. Many contracts are written in with stipulations and contingencies that kick in on the fifth day, which happens to be Monday, March 18th this year.

Detroit had a few contract options kick in on Monday. Most notable is a $5 million roster bonus paid to quarterback Jared Goff. This was set in the contract; it’s not any new or unexpected monies going to Goff.

Another $500,000 went to left tackle Taylor Decker as a roster bonus. Technically, Decker’s bonus was on the third day of the new league year.

Two other players had their 2024 salaries guaranteed as well. Running back David Montgomery and freshly acquired cornerback Carlton Davis now have fully guaranteed salaries in 2024. Note that the recently reported reworking of Davis’ contract might alter that; we don’t yet have the exact details of the new contract.

All contract info provided by Spotrac.

Report: Lions, Carlton Davis agree to contract adjustment

Report: Lions, Carlton Davis agree to contract adjustment that frees up more cap room

One of the biggest moves from the Detroit Lions this offseason has been trading for former Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis. The Lions dealt a third-round pick in 2024 for Davis and two sixth-round picks.

Now that move has a corollary offshoot. Per Jason from Over The Cap, the Lions have agreed to restructure Davis’ three-year, $44.5 million contract he signed with Tampa Bay prior to the 2022 season.

It appears the Lions converted some of his 2024 salary into a bonus, as well as adding on void years to further spread out the impact on the salary cap. The restructuring does not extend Davis’ tenure in Detroit beyond 2024.

The restructured deal parameters, as broken down by Over The Cap,

The Lions traded for Davis in 2024. Following the trade they restructured his contract, converting $6 million in salary to a bonus. The move reduced his 2024 cap number by $4.5 million.

The contract restructuring has not yet been officially recognized on the NFL’s transaction wire or by the Lions, so don’t go spending that extra cap room in 2024 just yet…

Recent cornerback moves are proof Saints should not trade Marshon Lattimore

Poor returns on recent cornerback trades are proof the Saints shouldn’t deal Marshon Lattimore. It’s in their best interest to mend what’s broken:

NFL teams will tell you how they value a player by the contracts they hand out and what they’re willing to send in trades with one another. And while cornerback remains a premium position, players being swapped for draft picks are not bringing back very strong returns. Not even great ones like Jalen Ramsey. It means the New Orleans Saints shouldn’t expect a great haul of draft picks for trading Marshon Lattimore, either.

As noted by Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan, high-end corners like Ramsey, Carlton Davis, and Rasul Douglas have all been traded in the last 12 months. Here’s what those trades brought back:

  • Jalen Ramsey: Traded for a third-round pick and backup tight end
  • Carlton Davis: Traded with two sixth rounders for a third-round pick
  • Rasul Douglas: Traded with a fifth rounder for a third-round pick

That’s a sorry return for three players who are all healthier and/or more productive than Lattimore over the last two years. Lattimore has 12 passes broken up across 17 games with just a pair of interceptions, compared to Douglas (14 PBU’s and 5 interceptions in 16 games), Davis (21 PBU’s and 3 interceptions in 25 games), and Ramsey (23 PBU’s and 7 interceptions in 27 games).

Saints fans aren’t going to want to hear that, but it isn’t a diss at Lattimore. He’s played football at an incredibly high level even if his best work isn’t reflected on the stats sheet. He’s shut down DK Metcalf, DeAndre Hopkins and Mike Evans in recent games. But when you look at the impact plays where he’s breaking up passes or taking the ball away, there are players with better numbers being traded for inconsequential picks around the league.

And that’s what the Saints would be hearing if they started shopping Lattimore around. A third rounder and a late-round pick is the rumored price for Kansas City Chiefs franchise-tagged corner L’Jarius Sneed, too, and he’s someone else with more pass deflections (25), interceptions (5), and games played (33) than Lattimore the last two years. Saints fans are reasonably wanting a first-round pick and more for Lattimore, but teams aren’t going to offer that.

Which is why this situation shouldn’t get to that point anyway. If this is the best trade offer the Saints could expect then it’s worth more to them to mend whatever’s broken. They’ve let it known that their frustrations with Lattimore’s lengthy recovery from injuries has boiled over. At the same time, it hasn’t reached a point where Lattimore has requested a trade or been granted permission to seek one. The Saints haven’t made calls to see who might be interested in cutting a deal. They’re open to it, which is why they restructured his contract to facilitate a trade.

But there’s reason to think everyone can be adults here, including Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis. To his credit, Allen was complimentary of Lattimore when asked about him at the NFL Scouting Combine. Loomis was more guarded when Lattimore’s unique restructure came up in his end-of-year press conference. Those two men are more responsible for the team’s success than anyone else in the building. They need to get on the same page with their four-time Pro Bowler.

This relationship isn’t too far gone. Lattimore showed up on the sideline to support his teammates in the regular season finale, unlike other injured players like Michael Thomas, who had already accepted he wouldn’t be back for 2024. He hasn’t been critical of anyone on social media. He’s taken the high road. It’s clear they won’t get a trade package back that would justify trading Lattimore. It’s time they put this speculation to rest and insure Lattimore will be making plays for New Orleans, not some other team, in 2024 and beyond.

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Carlton Davis: What the Lions are getting in their new CB

Breaking down the scouting report on new Lions CB Carlton Davis with Russell Brown

While the fanbase of the Detroit Lions grew impatient for some type of signing on the first day of the legal tampering period in the NFL, they made a significant splash. However, this splash wasn’t a free agent signing. Instead, this was a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that sent cornerback Carlton Davis to the Lions.

So what are the Lions getting with cornerback Carlton Davis?

For starters, they’re getting a pair of 6th round picks in the 2024 and 2025 NFL Drafts. Brad Holmes did it again 🙂

As for Davis, he’s a long and athletic corner that’s physical. He’ll matchup well with bigger receivers. In addition to that, he’s solid in man coverage. Last season, he allowed a 60% completion percentage, zero touchdowns and a 75.1 passer rating when targeted, per PFF. This earned him a 68.8 PFF grade in man coverage. Last season, nobody played more man coverage snaps than Cam Sutton did for the Lions. On paper, this could bode well for Davis, Sutton and the Lions defense as a whole.

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Additionally, Davis had 9 pass breakups and two interceptions last season. While I’ll need to get into the tape to confirm, he only missed 4 tackles last season as well. Getting a good tackler on the perimeter is important for most teams in the NFL, especially the Lions.

With the Lions being a heavy Cover-1 man defense and a Cover-3 zone defense, it’s important to get another cornerback that can do both. Davis is technically sound in both man and zone coverage. His physicality should be felt when pressing receivers and when playing through the hands of the receiver.

This season, Davis will be playing on the final year of his 3-year contract extension from the 2022 season. He will carry a $14.5 million dollar cap hit. If all goes right with production and health (missed 16 games in three seasons), the Lions could look into giving the 27-year old cornerback a contract extension.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Lions end up selecting a cornerback in the 2024 NFL Draft. I’d have to think this move eliminates selecting one early in the draft but they should still consider one with one of their four picks on day three of the draft. For now, this should be a trade that gets Lions fans excited.

Lions may be out of pursuit for Marshon Lattimore

The Detroit Lions may be out on Marshon Lattimore. They’ve agreed to trade for another No. 1 corner from one of the Saints’ division rivals:

On the first day of the legal tampering window, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to a trade with the Detroit Lions sending cornerback Carlton Davis and a couple of late-round draft picks to Detroit in exchange for a third-round pick. The addition of Davis as Detroit’s new number-one cornerback might take them out of the running for New Orleans Saints corner Marshon Lattimore, who has been the subject of trade chatter this offseason.

It was noted prior to free agency that Detroit would be aggressively pursuing the cornerback market this offseason. With the ties that Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell and his fellow defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn have with the Saints, it seemed as though Detroit would be a very likely landing spot for Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore if the team does decide to move on from him.

With the Lions acquiring Davis, this just about concludes the possibility of Lattimore being shipped out to Detroit. However, what makes one wonder is the fact that the Lions didn’t have a second-round pick for flexibility to help facilitate a trade for Lattimore. Giving up a first rounder may have been too rich knowing that they wouldn’t have been picking until the late in the third round this year, but who knows.

The benefit for Saints fans is that one of the top corners in their division is out of the door and they will no longer have to worry about competing against him. And if this development helps keep Lattimore in New Orleans, well: that would be a welcome bonus.

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Video: Recapping the Detroit Lions first day of free agency (and trade)

Video: Recapping the Detroit Lions moves on the first day of NFL free agency, plus Marshawn Kneeland’s pro day

It was a busy Monday in Lions land, the opening day of the NFL’s free agency “legal tampering” period. Teams were free to agree to deals with free agents, though the contracts cannot be signed or made official until Wednesday afternoon.

The Lions made a few moves:

–Re-signing RG Graham Glasgow

–Trading for Buccaneers CB Carlton Davis

–Agreeing to terms with Vikings (and ex-Saints) DE Marcus Davenport

–Waving goodbye to LG Jonah Jackson

I shot a quick little video reaction to the day’s action in Detroit. It was also Western Michigan’s pro day, and the Lions were among 23 teams in Kalamazoo to check out DE Marshawn Kneeland. It leads to a little bit of draft talk at the end of the video.

An audio-only version will be available via your favorite podcast provider by Tuesday morning.

Trade alert: Lions make a deal for Buccaneers CB Carlton Davis

Davis has started 75 games in six seasons in Tampa Bay and is under contract through 2024

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a trade!

The Detroit Lions have traded a third-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In exchange for the pick, Detroit will receive starting cornerback Carlton Davis, a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick.

It’s a move that brings instant stability and credibility to the Lions at the outside cornerback position. Davis, 27, has started 75 games for Tampa Bay over the last six seasons.

The 6-foot-1 Davis is entering the final year of his contract. He is due $14.5 million for 2024 and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season unless the Lions agree to a contract extension.

Detroit held two picks in the third round and is sending their own pick, No. 61 overall, to the Buccaneers in the deal. The Lions will keep Minnesota’s pick at No. 73 overall from the T.J. Hockenson trade. Tampa Bay has two sixth-round picks in 2024 and it is not yet clear which of those conveys to Detroit in the trade.

Full details of Bucs, Lions trade for CB Carlton Davis III

Get all the latest details on the trade for cornerback Carlton Davis III between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made a big splash on the first day of the NFL’s pre-free agency negotiation period, agreeing to a trade that will send cornerback Carlton Davis III to the Detroit Lions.

Along with Davis, the Bucs are sending a sixth-round pick in each of the next two drafts to Detroit, and getting a third-round pick in 2024 from the Lions in return.

The pick heading to Tampa Bay will be the later of Detroit’s two third-rounders in this year’s draft, their own selection instead of the earlier one originally owned by the Minnesota Vikings.

This looks like a win-win deal for both sides, as the Lions fill a big need on defense with a veteran starter in Davis, while the Bucs get a big chunk of salary cap space while adding a valuable Day 2 draft pick.

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