Upon acquiring him from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March, the Detroit Lions restructured the final year of cornerback Carlton Davis' contract to free up cap space for 2024. It's unknown, and possible unlikely, that contract extension talks have gone on just yet, but Davis made it clear he was open to an extension during his first meeting with Lions' reporters.
Davis revealed Sunday night's game against the Houston Texans was personal, at the site of a bad performance when he was with the Buccaneers last year. He stepped up big-time, with two interceptions while allowing just two catches for 16 yards to Texans' receivers on six targets in his coverage (2.7 yards per target allowed).
Davis was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded Lions' defender from the game against the Texans (91.3 overall), and the second-highest graded Lion overall. For the season he's PFF's 15th-highest graded cornerback, with a top-10 run defense grade (83.0) and 10 pass breakups (five pass breakups over the last three games, with zero penalties over that span).
Davis has helped the Lions to have the lowest passer rating against in the league (75.1). His play style and overall demeanor fits perfectly, and he seems to have injected an intangible element to the Lions' cornerback room it hasn't had since Matt Patricia shipped Darius Slay out of town.
Should the Lions sign Carlton Davis to a contract extension ASAP?
With all the contract extension business the Lions have done since late-April, some conversation can be had about who might be next, and/or if the next deal could be done during the season.
Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network has seen enough from Davis to recommend the Lions find a way to sign him to a contract extension.
"The addition of Davis has always carried long-term uncertainty. He’s in the final year of his contract and the Lions selected corners in the first two rounds of this year's draft. The implication is the marriage might only be a stopgap. And with Detroit’s future cap situation getting murkier by the extension after paying Jared Goff, Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Taylor Decker and Alim McNeill the past few months, saying the team should re-sign Davis isn’t simple."
"But I’m going to do it anyway: (Brad) Holmes should find a way to re-sign Davis.
Rogers rightly mentioned upcoming contract extension matters the Lions have as a challenge to re-signing Davis. But after calling him "the right player at the right time", Rogers reinforced the opinion.
"I’ve seen enough after half of a season — locking up Davis feels like the right move."
On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell revealed something he told Davis before Sunday night's game.
Dan Campbell on Carlton Davis: "That's been an outstanding addition."
— Pride of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) November 11, 2024
Said he told him on Saturday:
"One of the best moves we made was acquiring you."
Dan Campbell says he told Carlton Davis on Saturday night that he was one of the best moves they made this offseason.
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) November 11, 2024
"He's all in and he's playing at a high level...and he's just gaining momentum. His confidence continues to grow...so I'm thankful we got him here."
If Davis keeps playing the way he is right now, he's going to set himself up for a nice pay day in the offseason and he'll have multiple suitors on the free agent market ready to pony up. The Lions have, and surely will continue to be, proactive about trying to re-sign "their own."
Of course it takes two to tango on these things, and if Davis finishes the season the way he has started seeing what might be be out there on the open market will be virtually automatic. Of course he could love Detroit and want to stay, maybe for a little less money than he could get somewhere else.
Davis is not a homegrown player like many others who have gotten contract extensions from the Lions lately. But getting a deal done with him in-season may be moving toward the front burner. Right now, in-season or not, it seems sure the Lions will make a concerted effort to keep Davis around a few more years.