This is one FA cornerback the Lions have wanted for years!

Mike Payton discusses the Detroit Lions potential pursuit of a free agent cornerback that has been on the team's radar since 2021.

Transcript

00:00We know the lions care a lot about pre-draft meetings now, but I think they cared a lot about

00:04them back in 2021. And there was one guy they met with who was going to be a free agent this

00:10off-season and he could really help Detroit. Let's talk about it. Hi, Mike Payne from A to Z Sports

00:18Detroit. Today, we're going to talk about why the lions could be a good match for cornerback

00:23Asante Samuel Jr. Now you go back to 2021, Brad Holmes' first year on the job during the COVID

00:30era. Usually we're able to follow pre-draft meetings like the formals at the combine or

00:39the pro day or local pro day or whatever you have in mind. We're able to follow those a lot better

00:46now. We can see who they're talking to. We are able to formulate ideas on what the draft could

00:52look like based off of who they're talking to. In 2021, it was the COVID era. We couldn't find

00:58anything. There were a handful of guys that we know that they talked to and talked to multiple

01:03times. Asante Samuel Jr. was one of those guys. Coming out of Florida state, the lions needed a

01:09cornerback. They wound up going with a Fitu Malafonwu out of Syracuse a little bit later,

01:16but this is a guy that is now becoming a free agent. The lions could still have that interest.

01:22They could still feel that need to have this guy. There's a good chance that with him on the market,

01:29the lions could be the team that signs him. You think about a few different things. You're

01:36probably going to lose Carlton Davis. It sucks to say that, but he's probably going to get a big

01:41money offer somewhere else. We're talking like $45 million. It's going to be huge for him.

01:47With Samuel, you get a player who is almost as good, certainly somebody who was top five

01:55in past breakups, two years in a row, coming off an injured season. Maybe there's some questions

02:02about his tackling ability, but a pretty good corner. I think most people would say he's going

02:07to be one of the top corners in this year's free agency class. You're going to get him

02:11significantly cheaper. You could probably get him at $40 million, maybe even a little bit less.

02:16He's 26 years old. He's a little younger. It just makes sense that you would pair these two

02:24together just based off the fact that we know the lions have already been interested.

02:28We know that they're going to need some corner depth. We know that they're going to probably

02:31be looking for a cornerback one. Ideally, I think that's Amik Robertson, but if it's not,

02:37if they move Amik back to the slot, Samuel could be that outside guy.

02:43But also, those two could get interchanged. Even if you brought in Samuel and wanted him

02:49to play in the slot and wanted Amik to stay out on the outside, you could still do that.

02:53You can change them. You can rotate them around. I think there's a lot of ability to do

02:59different things with Asante Samuel Jr. He comes, like I said, at the cheaper rate than

03:05Carlton Davis would come. Obviously, you got to fix the tackling. You've got to

03:10certainly drive home that that is something he needs to improve on. But if you're able to get

03:15him at a significant discount, it kind of feels worth it in the end. So next week, free agency

03:22opens up. Keep an eye on Asante Samuel Jr. I think the lions will at least have a conversation

03:28with his agent and there's a possibility he could be in Detroit in 2025.