Two days have passed and the Lions have already had the most exciting free agency of the Brad Holmes era. As opposed to the past two years he’s actually signed a coveted player to a multi-year contract. And then he went and did it again, with Cameron Sutton and David Montgomery being the two biggest signings of the current regime.

Reports had come out that the Lions were one of the teams in the market for Jalen Ramsey, and while we did miss out on the superstar cornerback (because somehow Miami is more appealing than Detroit. Paging the IRS), the attempt did give us an indication to how Holmes would approach the legal tampering period.

So it’s not a shock that two of our major signings so far have been in addressing our team's biggest weakness, the cornerback room. 

A couple of hours into free agency it was announced that the Lions signed former Steeler Cameron Sutton to a 3-year $33m deal. Going by the reaction of Steelers fans, it’s likely a good sign when the former teams' fanbase is upset by this signing.

As PFF’s 28th highest-ranked corner last year, Sutton is immediately vaulted into our CB1 position, as none of our players at that position even cracked the top 60.

Alongside Sutton, the Lions also signed former 49er Emmanuel Moseley on a 1 year $6m deal. While Moseley is considered a talented corner (once again, former fans are upset), he has been placed on injured reserve in each of the last two seasons, which explains why he has been signed onto a low-risk prove-it deal.

Will Harris was also brought back into the fold, giving our new-look cornerback room some depth. The former 3rd round safety is often maligned by fans, but he finished the season with some solid play.

Before these moves, cornerback was considered our most likely draft commodity. After them, it should probably still be in contention, as the team doesn’t have much quality at that position beyond 2023, with Jeff Okudah likely to not get a second contract from the team.

Corner is becoming one of the most coveted positions in the NFL, so acquiring a starting corner on a rookie contract with one of our two first-round picks is an investment I’d like to see Brad Holmes make.

Towards the end of day two, a fan base’s heart was broken as the Lions acquired running back, David Montgomery, on a 3-year $18m deal. This isn’t an indictment on Montgomery, but his signing points toward Jamaal Williams taking his talents elsewhere. His glorious, hip-thrusting talents. 

Montgomery is not a downgrade. In fact, he is a more talented back than Williams. He led the league in forced missed tackle rate last year and is capable of being used on all 3 downs. It’s just a shame that the Lions are likely to be losing one of the league's best characters and an infectious personality in the locker room. And if the Lions are about to take that next big step into becoming contenders, then it’s just a shame that Jamaal won't be there to take it with us (unless they just re-sign him anyway and trade away Swift, so who knows). 

The rest of the moves that the Lions made focused on resigning several players from last year's team that were allowed to test the market. Along with the aforementioned Will Harris, Isaiah Buggs (2 yr $6m) and John Crominsky (2 yr $8.5)were brought back to strengthen the defensive line depth. Matt Nelson (RFA) was brought back for another year, and Alex Anzalone (3 yr $18m) was finally given a long-term contract after back-to-back prove-it-year deals.