The Detroit Lions have risen to being a contender on the strength of one of the top offenses in the league. That's not to say the defense hasn't contributed to success at all, but injuries have noticeably waylaid things on that side of the ball in each of the last two seasons.
A big part of the issue has come from having a strong run defense, along with injuries in the secondary and often forcing opposing offenses to be in pass-heavy mode by scoring a lot of points. But in each of the last three seasons, the Lions have been 20th or worse in the league in passing yards allowed and 28th or worse in yards allowed per completion.
Any struggles the Lions have had at cornerback have not been due to a lack of resources being poured into the position. Early draft picks and notable free agent signings have happened, but circumstances have led to underachievement and a lack of ideal production.
With the proverbial Super Bowl window as currently constructed in Detroit narrowing each year, despite past protests to the contrary from general manager Brad Holmes, this offseason is a big one to actually fix some things that haven't gone away.
Lions predicted to fix lingering problem in 2026 free agency
Greg Auman of Fox Sports has predicted landing spots for each one of his top-100 free agents for this year. While it would easy to focus on certain players or positions for the Lions, he has predicted they'll sign cornerback Jamel Dean.
"Dean, 29, had one of the league's more remarkable seasons, agreeing to an $8 million pay cut to stay in Tampa, then having a huge season with three interceptions and two forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus loves him, rating him as the NFL's No. 5 cornerback for 2025 and ranking him as the No. 5 overall free agent at any position. He could draw his old Bucs salary of $12 million a year as a free agent, but he's only played for Todd Bowles in Tampa and likes it there, so there's no telling what he'll do."
Dean responded to the aforementioned pay cut last offseason by having an excellent 2025 season. That could be seen as a contract year drive based on the entirety of his career, this side of 2021, but allowing a 63.1 passer rating and less than a 50 percent completion rate in his coverage is too good to simply ignore.
That pay cut could also leave Dean with a lingering sour taste in his mouth, and push him toward exiting Tampa Bay in free agency.
As Auman noted, Pro Football Focus was high on Dean's work this past season (as the site has been generally over the course of his career), hence why he is No. 5 in their 2026 free agent rankings.
"Dean ranked fourth among all cornerbacks in PFF grade (81.5) in 2025 and allowed just a 46.9 passer rating on throws into his coverage, which was the best mark in the NFL. Now seven seasons into his career, he has never posted a PFF coverage grade below 70.0."
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Dean has missed time in each of his seven NFL seasons, so skeptics could easily brush him off as another injury-prone cornerback the Lions would be bringing in.
But what Dean has shown he can be, a shutdown corner, is something the Lions have been trying to find in sustainable fashion since Matt Patricia dispatched Darius Slay for pennies on the dollar in a trade six years ago.
The time to hope others can become that kind of shutdown corner is running short. Signing Dean, or someone like him, would be part of an undeniable message this Lions' offseason is going to be different than the last few.