After a splashy day one, the Lions stayed quiet in the early stages of day two of free agency. That all changed around 3:30 p.m. when Detroit signed Emmanuel Moseley, John Cominsky, and Will Harris, all within a half-hour span.
Emmanuel Moseley Lands in Detroit
Former 49ers cornerback Emmanuel Moseley signed a one-year deal worth $6 million with Detroit this afternoon. This is the second new face the Lions have added to the secondary, after signing Cam Sutton from the Steelers yesterday. Sutton and Moseley were teammates at Tennessee University from 2014-2016, playing alongside each other on defense.
Moseley was a UDFA before signing with San Francisco prior to the 2018 season. The 26-year-old played 16 games in 2019, 12 in 2020, 11 in 2021, and five in 2022 before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. Moseley is suppose to be good to go by training camp.
Before his injury, Moseley had one pick-six, five passes defended, and 22 tackles in five games. He has recorded at least one interception every year since 2019.
After adding two new players to the secondary and resigning Will Harris, it’s probably safe to cross Devon Witherspoon and Christian Gonzalez off on Lions draft boards. That is, unless they decide to utilize the trade block to move on from other players in the defensive backs unit. Does that mean it’s QB O’clock come draft time? The Lions have the 6th and 18th pick in this year’s NFL draft. If a quarterback the Lions like falls to six, watch out.
The Returning Rotational Pieces
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Detroit Lions DT John Cominsky (79) – Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports
The Lions resigned cornerback Will Harris, defensive lineman John Cominsky, and offensive tackle Matt Nelson.
In his first season playing corner, Will Harris was a fantastic rotational piece last year for Detroit, grading out higher than any other player in the CB room, according to PFF. Harris played in 15 games in his fourth season, starting in ten. The former Boston College Eagle had one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery in 2022. The additions of Moseley and Sutton will most likely push Harris down the depth chart. However, I still expect to frequently see Harris play a fair amount of snaps as the nickel corner this year.
John Cominsky is coming off a career season in Detroit. The 27-year-old played in 14 games last season while starting in eight, both career highs. Cominsky took advantage of his limited snap count in 2022, only playing 49% of the Lions’ defensive plays. The former fourth-round pick tallied four sacks, five tackles for loss, 12 QB hits, four deflections, and a forced fumble in 2022. Although the former Falcon can be physically limited, he exceeded expectations last season, earning him a two-year deal worth up to $8.5 million ($4 million guaranteed), with another $1 million of incentives on the table. Expect to see Cominsky in passing down packages.
The Lions also resigned offensive tackle Matt Nelson, a solid piece of insurance for Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker.
Detroit has enough cap space to sign one more key player. DJ Chark, Deshaun Elliot, and Jamaal Williams still have not re-signed. Lions’ General Manager Brad Holmes has a tough decision to make about the Detroit Lions’ future with the remaining amount of cash to spend.
More Lions Free Agency Content
For more in-depth content about the Detroit Lions Free Agency moves, follow @FDFPodcast on Twitter. Listen to the Forward Down the Field Podcast with myself and Sam Goodman on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever else you get your podcasts! We’ll be breaking down free agency daily. Don’t miss out!
To listen to a recap of day one of free agency, click here!
To read a recap of day one of free agency, click here!
To read more about Cam Sutton, click here!
