Detroit Lions add to free agent cornerback haul with Emmanuel Moseley

The Detroit Lions added another cornerback on Day 2 of the free agency frenzy, agreeing to terms with former 49er Emmanuel Moseley.

The Detroit Lions clearly have a focus in free agency. After signing one of the top cornerbacks on the market, Cameron Sutton, on Monday, they’ve added another corner. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Lions have agreed to one-year, $6 million deal with Emmanuel Moseley. It’s fair to add the term “up to” to that $6 million figure, pending the details of the contract.

Moseley landed with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee in 2018, and he spent his first five seasons there. After spending most of his rookie season on the practice squad, he played in 44 games and started 33 of them over the last four seasons with four interceptions and 33 pass breakups over that span.

Moseley only played five games last season before a torn ACL ended his season in October. That injury recovery surely shortened the length of the offers made to him on the market, but overall this is a player on an upward trajectory who may have cashed in nicely had he been coming off a fully healthy 2022 season.

Detroit Lions further fortify cornerback room with Emmanuel Moseley

In each of the last two seasons, according to Pro Football Reference, Moseley has allowed a passer rating below 67.0.

In an interesting twist, and perhaps with a bit of quick recruitment done, Moseley and Sutton were college teammates at Tennessee for three seasons.

Moseley is an outside corner by trade at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, and he’ll now enter a competition for playing time with incumbents Jeff Okudah and Jerry Jacobs. The Lions have a looming decision on Okudah’s fifth-year option by early May, and his role for next season is becoming a bigger question by the day.

The Lions have tended to like taking a chance on free agents coming off an injury (DeShon Elliott, DJ Chark) with short-term deals. Moseley fits that template, with a real chance to stick around for some years beyond this deal as a key pice of the Detroit secondary.

According to Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press on Tuesday the Lions are also expected to re-sign cornerback Will Harris to a one-year deal.