The Lions swapped Carlton Davis for D.J. Reed in free agency. Was that the right move?
The Detroit Lions really only made one move on the opening day of the NFL free agency tampering period, but it was a big one.
After losing Carlton Davis to the New England Patriots , the Lions quickly shifted their plans and shortly after the Davis news dropped, they agreed to terms with former Jets cornerback D.J. Reed on a three-year deal . Reed has a lot of qualities the Lions like, including press-man coverage skills, a tenacious attitude, and some versatility to play multiple spots on the defense. However, the Lions also liked a lot of those things about Davis, and coach Dan Campbell even said that acquiring Davis via trade last year was one of their best offseason moves.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Did the Lions make the right moves at cornerback?
My answer: I think overall, it was a pretty lateral move—which can be considered a good thing given that’s not always easy to do in free agency.
First, let’s address the cost, because I think some are overstating it a bit. On the surface, it looks like the Lions got an amazing deal compared to what Davis got. Initial reports suggested Davis signed a three-year, $60 million deal (or $20 million per year), while the Lions acquired Reed for a three-year, $48 million deal. Wow, the Lions saved $12 million!
Except that’s not really how contracts typically end up working. There’s a reason most people suggest waiting until the full details come out, and there are even some details out now that suggest these deals are not going to end up much different than each other. For one, Mike Silver is reporting that Davis’ deal is actually $18 million a year with incentives that can push it to $20 million . So we’re already talking a $6 million difference instead of $12 million.
But beyond that, the key to contracts is the guaranteed money, because more often than not, these players don’t even end up playing through the entire length of their contracts. Davis has reportedly $34.5 million in guarantees while Reed has $32 million guaranteed. Now we’re just talking about a potential $2.5 million difference overall. It’s something, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a massive difference. Still, we should wait until we see the structure of both deals before we decisively declare anything about value.
As for the players, I view them very much on a similar tier. Davis would have brought familiarity and a little more juice in the run game than Reed. But I believe Reed to be the better overall cover cornerback, even though I think his game will need a little adjustment going to a defense that will require a little more involvement in stopping the run.
Overall, I think it was pretty crafty for Brad Holmes to be able to quickly pivot to his Plan B when Davis took the Patriots deal.
What are your thoughts on the cornerback swap? Vote in the poll below and sound off in the comment section at the bottom of the page.