Pride of Detroit
Do the Lions have a No. 1 cornerback on their roster? If not, Carlton Davis represents the best option to keeping one in Detroit.
Our 2025 Detroit Lions free agent series continues. We’re breaking down each and every single decision the team must make with their pending free agent class ahead of this offseason including what their expectations were coming into the 2024 season, how they performed, and ultimately their chances of returning to Detroit for the next season.
Next up in the series is a player who stepped up into the No. 1 cornerback role and made a big difference for a cornerback room that was mostly young and inexperienced in 2024: Carlton Davis.
Here’s a look at our previously-written free agent profiles: WR Tim Patrick, G Kevin Zeitler, DT Kyle Peko, and LB Derrick Barnes.
At the beginning of last year’s free agency, Detroit made it clear they were going back to the drawing board when it came to the cornerback position. In that initial wave of free agent frenzy, Detroit worked the phones and traded a 2024 third-round pick for Carlton Davis and additional draft compensation in return.
In Detroit trading for Davis, it seemed like the Lions had learned Cam Sutton wasn’t quite cut out to be the team’s No. 1 corner after his first season with the Lions was an up-and-down experience at best—Sutton finished with the 22nd-worst passer rating against in coverage (113.9) among 135 qualifying cornerbacks. The Lions completed the trade for Davis on March 11, but a little over a week later, we’d learn that Sutton had been charged with domestic battery for an incident that took place on March 7, which would then lead to the Lions releasing him on March 21.
Davis had been a vital piece to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, but after making financial commitments to players like Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield before the start of free agency—and franchise tagging Antoine Winfield Jr., who would end up becoming the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history later in the offseason—Davis was the odd man out.
But the Buccaneers loss seemed to be the Lions gain considering the kind of talent they were getting in Davis. Despite the Bucs running a lot of Cover 3 under Todd Bowles, Davis had proven himself to be adept in man coverage when given the opportunity—and a plus-defender against the run, two very coveted skills in Aaron Glenn’s defense. Since 2020, Davis put up impressive numbers when in man coverage:
And maybe most importantly, he had established himself as a true No. 1 cornerback capable of handling those tough assignments.
Injuries, however, were the big question mark. Since signing a three-year, $45 million deal in 2022, Davis played in just 25 of 34 regular season games, and he hadn’t played more than...
