New Detroit Lions Cam Sutton. (Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire).
Monday, March 13th marked the beginning of NFL free agency with the legal tampering period getting underway at noon. Teams are now able to legally contact players and agents, and discuss signing deals, and with that unofficial announcements dominate the social media landscape over what team is signing who. Many Detroit Lions fans doubted the team’s willingness to sign star free agents, as they have been a draft-oriented regime with Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes at the helm. Today that changed.
Detroit Lions’ Sign Star Cornerback Cam Sutton:
New Detroit Lions’ cornerback Cam Sutton celebrating an incompletion whilst in Pittsburgh. (USA Today Sports).
With a strong corner market, the Lions needed to invest in a free agent that could quickly improve their roster and develop their young corners. Former Lion Glover Quinn discussed this a few months back on the Detroit Lions News Show saying, “The Lions need to do what they did with me. Bring in an established corner, a guy who can come in and make plays. He needs to want to be here, in Detroit, and be a mentor to those younger players.”
Following that to a tee, Brad Holmes went out and found himself one of these star corners in the free agent market. Adding Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, Cam Sutton, the Lions got themselves a 28-year-old veteran in his prime. Not only this but a locker room leader, versatile player, and great teacher according to many of his teammates. In fact, one of the most respected players in the league, Cameron Heyward said this about his former teammate. “On the defensive side, I really like Cam Sutton. There are so many different things Cam does that go unnoticed. He can play nickel, outside, and the dime. You can move him around and he will have that mean streak.”
Sutton had 43 tackles and three interceptions in 16 games for his 2022 campaign. Only allowing 35 completions on 73 targets all season, Sutton was a lockdown threat all year. As a top-five corner in completion percentage allowed, Sutton has proved to be a dominant man coverage corner, something the Lions need in their defensive scheme. Earning himself a top-30 ranking on PFF’s corner rankings last season, Sutton will move to a defense that can better utilize his versatility alongside a deep-lockdown corner in Jeff Okudah.
Signing a three-year $33 million contract per Ian Rappaport, Sutton will play out the rest of his prime in Honolulu Blue. With a shockingly low cap hit, the Lions still have room to work in free agency. Pursuing corner depth, a guard, linebackers, and defensive tackles all seem to be the priority in Detroit.
One question remains, are the Lions still actively pursuing a corner with their sixth pick in the 2023 NFL draft? Will they take their future quarterback? Will they bank or Will Anderson or Jalen Carter to fall? What is the plan in Detroit? Only time will tell what is in store for Lions fans, but no matter what Brad Holmes is doing all he can to turn this ship around.
