Lions CB Carlton Davis told The Athletic he doesn’t expect Detroit to offer a competitive deal in free agency.
With the NFL free agency tampering period opening up on Monday at Noon ET, one Detroit Lions player is expecting to find a new home. Cornerback Carlton Davis told The Athletic that he doesn’t expect the Lions to make a strong enough push to retain him this year.
From Mike Silver:
Davis fully expects to relocate, and he insists he won’t sign until the price is right.
“I feel like last time, I just kind of panicked,” Davis told The Athletic on Saturday. “I was younger, and my mindset was, ‘I need to go ahead and just choose.’ At the time, the thinking was, ‘This is the offer, and the more you wait, the more that number’s gonna go down.’ Yeah, that can happen, but teams know your value, and right now I’m playing my best football.
“This time, I ain’t gonna settle for less.”
Davis, 28, doesn’t believe the Lions will make an aggressive effort to bring him back.
Last time Davis faced free agency, he signed a three-year, $44.5 million contract, falling just short of $15 million per year. Now, he believes he’s entering his prime and should get paid like a “top-10 or top-15 cornerback.” As of right now, the top 10-15 cornerback deals land between $13 and $19 million per year.
According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Lions are believed to be looking to spend a little less than that at cornerback.
“The Lions are looking to spend slightly less on a veteran cornerback, perhaps in the $12 million-per-year range, one agent who met with the Lions at the NFL combine told the Free Press last week,” Birkett wrote last week.
Davis was a key part of the Lions defense before breaking his jaw late in the season. He started 13 games, picked off two passes, knocked down 11 passes, forced two fumbles and produced 56 tackles. Dan Campbell spoke very highly of Davis while he was here, and Davis called Campbell the best coach he’s ever played for. But business is business.
Obviously, things are still being negotiated behind the scenes, but it certainly looks like Davis intends to test the market when free agency opens. Whether he’ll find the deal he’s looking for or not remains to be seen.
