The Detroit Lions lost Cameron Sutton a couple weeks back after he had an warrant out for his arrest for a violent crime. Cornerback then became a need for the Lions.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about the Lions urgency to find some depth there at the league meetings at the end of March and said that the Lions were exploring some options in free agency. They made a move on Wednesday when they brought back veteran cornerback Kindle Vildor.
This isn't going to be exciting for a lot of Lions fans that were hoping that the team would go out and sign a big name or one of the top veterans that are left, but this is a very solid move for the Lions.
I get it. A lot of fans are going to want to remember what happened in the NFC Championship game when a should be interception bounced off his face mask and into the hands of Brandon Aiyuk. Outside of that one bad thing, Vildor was actually pretty good for Detroit when he was used a depth piece.
Vildor played really well in the three games that he was flexing in at cornerback. When he became a starter, that's where he began to struggle. That's not what the Lions are going to ask him to do in 2024. So he'll get to work in short bits and be a good special teams contributor as well.
Lions GM Brad Holmes talked about how the Lions want corners that can tackle, well Vildor is very good in that regard. Pro Football Focus had him graded out in the high 70's in tackling all season. Plus he's a good run stopper as well.
Vildor will reunite with Deshea Townsend who he was with in Chicago when he played the most snaps of any time in his career. So there's going to be some trust there.
The Lions will still probably draft a cornerback. This move doesn't mean they're done. But it does show again how committed they are to the position by making sure they have depth there.
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