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The Lions have made their first signing of free agency, and it’s a pretty juicy one.

Detroit agreed to terms with former Jets cornerback DJ Reed, on a 3 year deal worth $48 million with $32 million guaranteed, or $16 million per year. The deal was signed shortly after Carlton Davis signed his $20 million per year deal, pointing to the fact that this was likely always the plan. The Lions got a very good corner, for $4 million per year less than the guy they replaced, win-win move in my opinion. Obviously, the structure of the deal matters the most, so we will have to keep that in mind.

What Is Detroit Getting?

Reed, 28, spent his last 3 seasons in New York, before that he spent 2 in Seattle; he was drafted by San Francisco originally, where he spent his first 2 seasons. Reed isn’t necessarily a ‘ball-hawk’ with only 6 interceptions in 7 seasons, but he has proven to be a reliable cover man. Starting all 14 games he played last year, he allowed 32 catches on 52 targets for 373 yards and a touchdown. He also allowed a 61.5% catch rate, a 14.7% target rate, 2.1 yards of separation per target, a QB rating of 89.7, and forced tight window throws 36.5% of the time. PFF gave him an overall grade of 70.7, a coverage grade of 70.1, and a run defense grade of 71.8. He is a solid, relatively young corner that I think would fit pretty well here. The one thing I don’t love about adding Reed is his size, at 5’9″ 187 lbs, you’d feel a lot less comfortable with him 1-on-1 on the outside. The only real issue I see with Reed is the redundancy with Robertson, similar size, and similar play. However, I think both can play inside or outside, and Reed gives the Lions a more consistent option.

After all is said and done, I am totally fine with replacing Davis with Reed, and saving $4 million per year. Arnold should hopefully take the next step, and be our true CB1, but Reed is a very good CB2, as we saw in New York. Brad did it again, getting a very good player at a value. Next up, shoring up the pass rush.

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