Lions GM describes CB competition as 'bloodbath'

The Lions made it a priority to rebuild their cornerback room after allowing the sixth-most passing yards per game ( 247.4 ) in the league last season.

This offseason, Detroit traded for Carlton Davis III, signed Amik Robertson and Emmanuel Moseley in free agency and selected Terrion Arnold (first-round pick) and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. (second-round pick) in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The group looks to be much improved on paper and general manager Brad Holmes gave a sneak peek into what the competition will look like when the team opens training camp later this month.

"Yeah, it's a bloodbath in there now. It is, and that's what makes everything better," Holmes said , via the team's website. "It makes the room better, it makes the defense better, it makes the team better. Competition just brings the best out of everybody."

The Lions are hoping to pick up right where they left off last season. They fell just three points short (34-31) to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game.

Improving their secondary will help them do just that. However, now comes the difficult decision of deciding who will start. Head coach Dan Campbell still has no idea who that will be.

"The talent level, the competitiveness, the versatility, honestly, we have no idea who our starting lineup is gonna be right now, and it's exciting," Campbell said , via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "There's no telling who's gonna be our outside corners, who's gonna be our nickel, who's gonna be our safeties. This thing is wide open across the board."

Davis seems to be an early favorite to be one of Detroit's starting outside corners. The 27-year-old has 324 tackles, three forced fumbles, nine interceptions and 73 passes defensed since entering the NFL as a second-round pick in 2018.

Arnold is the other favorite to play across Davis after registering 108 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, six interceptions and 20 passes defensed the past two years at Alabama.

Still, the Lions aren't going to make any decisions right now, and rightfully so. They will only be better for the competition in the long run as they hope to build off an impressive 2023 campaign.

The only difference is Detroit won't be catching anyone by surprise this year.