By the end of a season that culminated in a trip to the NFC Championship Game, the Detroit Lions had a struggling Cameron Sutton and a barely NFL roster-worthy Kindle Vildor playing nearly all of their snaps at outside cornerback.
As free agency nears, the Lions have plenty of cap space to help that situation, maybe with multiple veteran players. In another sense, if there's a big offseason move to be made it arguably should be for a top-end cornerback.
In a collection of buzz out of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler talked about the cornerback market with an indication the Lions are a significant player.
"Cornerback was a popular position of discussion in Indy, most notably for the trade market. We know the Chiefs are working on a potential tag-and-trade with L'Jarius Sneed, and multiple teams are believed to be in the mix there, The word out of Indy is that Detroit is pretty set on adding a high-end corner, so the Lions are one to watch. Miami is worth keeping an eye on, too."
The big offseason move the Detroit Lions should make is abundantly clear
The specific mention of Sneed is interesting, even under the obvious umbrella of "multiple teams are believed to be in the mix there". The Kansas City Chiefs have franchise tagged him, but the door is wide open for a tag and trade and the Lions should be in the mix to try to get that done.
Fowler also mentioned Saints cornerback Marcus Lattimore and Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis as cornerbacks teams believe are available. Lattimore is easy to tab as a potential trade target for the Lions, and Davis is broadly interesting as a possibly available option. But there's a strong argument the Lions' pursuit of a high-end cornerback should start with Sneed, and go from there if he can't be acquired.
ESPN's report that the Lions are "pretty set" on adding a high-end cornerback is not a huge revelation. But it does further confirm where general manager Brad Holmes should have his focus for any sort of big offseason move he might be considering.