Pro Football Rumors
Before Terrion Arnold‘s life and NFL career went off the rails last week, expectations were he could compete for the Lions’ No. 2 cornerback job this summer. But Monday, five days after Arnold was arrested on felony charges of armed robbery and kidnapping, the Lions cut him.
Arnold never lived up to his draft status during his two-year run in Detroit, which took the former Alabama star 24th overall in 2024. Now that he is out of the Lions’ plans, there is one fewer contender in a CB2 competition that will feature Rock Ya-Sin, Ennis Rakestraw and free agent pickup Roger McCreary. It appears Ya-Sin is the favorite, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes that the 30-year-old “should get first crack at the gig in training camp as a trusted vet who played well for the Lions last fall.”
Ya-Sin has already suited up for five teams in his seven-year career, but he seems to have found a home in Detroit. After he played his first season with the Lions in 2025, they brought him back on a one-year, $4MM payday in March. Ya-Sin put up his first 17-game season in 2025 and made six starts for a team that saw the injured trio of Arnold, Rakestraw and No. 1 corner D.J. Reed combine for 32 absences. Ya-Sin went without an interception over 611 defensive snaps (486 as a boundary corner), though he recorded a career-high nine pass deflections and held opposing quarterbacks to a paltry 51.9 completion percentage and a 72.6 QB rating on 54 targets.
Rakestraw dealt with injuries during his college career at Missouri, but that didn’t prevent the Lions from drafting him in the second round (No. 61 overall) in 2024. They have gotten little from Rakestraw since then. The 5-foot-11, 188-pounder played a meager 46 defensive snaps over eight games as a rookie, and he sat out all of last year after undergoing shoulder surgery in early August. The Lions continue to hold out hope for Rakestraw, per Birkett, who notes they value his blend of “tenacity and cover skills.”
“The role is there for him if he can stay healthy,” Lions defensive pass game coordinator Deshea Townsend said of Rakestraw (via Birkett). “But his body has changed. You can see physically how much mass and strength he’s put in the shoulder and neck area, which is important. Just staying healthy, that’s going to be big for him but his body most definitely looks different.”
McCreary, a former Titan and Ram, joined the Lions on a low-cost contract in free agency. As a second-round rookie in 2022, McCreary played a personal-high 662 snaps as an outside corner and made 17 starts for the only time in his career. He also logged almost 400 snaps from the slot, where he has primarily played dating back to his second year. He combined for just 13 snaps as a boundary corner from 2024-25, but the Lions will nonetheless consider him for a starting...
