On Wednesday morning, the Hillsborough County (FL) Sheriff's Office issued an arrest warrant for the Detroit Lions cornerback Cameron Sutton related to an alleged domestic violence incident.
The Lions issued the kind of statement you'd expect in that situation, saying essentially they were made aware of it at the same time the public was and were monitoring the situation.
Sutton is charged with domestic battery by strangulation, which is a third-degree felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Thursday afternoon, the Lions announced they have released Sutton.
#Lions have released CB Cam Sutton.
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) March 21, 2024
As of Thursday morning, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Sutton had not turned himself in. Eric Woodyard of ESPN confirmed as of Thursday afternoon, around the time the Lions released him, that was still the case.
As of 3:54 pm Cam Sutton still hasn’t turned himself into the police after an arrest warrant was issued over his alleged involvement in a domestic violence case. https://t.co/VDBhIHjBjd
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 21, 2024
Sutton signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Lions in free agency last offseason, and followed with a disappointing first campaign in Detroit. He was lined up for a chance to rebound next season, if only because the structure of his contract made it hard to viably move on one year in.
But an arrest warrant, and apparently being on the run from authorities for two weeks now, automatically changes everything. The Lions have quickly decided to move on, which isn't surprising and there should be zero tolerance for these kind of things.
Lions waste no time to part ways with Cameron Sutton
Now that he has been released, it's more appropriate to take a look at the salary cap ramifications for the Lions.
Based on pending investigations, the Lions will almost certainly be looking to void the $10.5M salary guarantee, and are also eligible to attempt to recoup $8.72M of Cam Sutton's $10.9M signing bonus. All of that is TBD for now however.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 21, 2024
As Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac mentioned, in the follow up to the cap implications dependent on how Sutton's release is labeled, the Lions should be able to void his $10.5 million guaranteed salary for this year. They are also eligible to try to recoup a big chunk ($8.72 million) of his original $10.9 million signing bonus,
Both things are very to-be-determined right now, pending how the legal system plays out for Sutton.
According to ESPN's Field Yates, the Lions are releasing Sutton with a post-June 1 designation, which allows them to spread out the dead money hit over two seasons.
The Lions officially released CB Cam Sutton with a post-June 1 designation. That allows the team to spread the dead money associated with his release over two seasons. The team will pick up $1.5M in cap space on June 1.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 21, 2024
CB Cam Sutton has officially been designated a Post June 1st release by the #Lions.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 21, 2024
Detroit has also signified their intent to void his $10.5M salary guarantee for 2024.
This means Detroit carries his $12.6M cap into June, then take on dead hits of:
2024: $2.18M
2025: $6.54M
According to Pro Football Talk, the Lions voided the $10.5 million guaranteed salary before releasing Sutton. Mike Florio noted how contract language presumably allowed them to do so before the league took action.
The Lions moved aggressively to address the cornerback position early in free agency, trading for Carlton Davis and signing Amik Robertson. Adding another veteran cornerback may now be on the radar, along with taking one early in next month's draft.