DETROIT – Cornerback is arguably one of the hardest positions to play in the sport of football. Finding one that is a cornerstone for your team’s defense is even more difficult and the Lions have been a prime example of that for years.
Terrion Arnold became the most recent offender of defensive backs to experience some turmoil while being a Detroit Lion, as he was arrested in Hillsborough County, Florida on Wednesday night. The 27th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft is facing a slew of felony charges related to a robbery and kidnapping case that happened in February. Arnold’s charges could possibly result in him serving a life sentence, but needless to say no matter the outcome of this case, his career as a professional football player is in serious jeopardy.
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While the Lions did address the corner position in the draft and free agency this spring, Arnold’s disappearance doesn’t take away from the fact that this franchise has had bad luck when it comes to finding players that stick in that role. Below are some more notable defensive backs that saw their career altered or terminated simply because they wore the Honolulu blue and silver.
Cam Sutton
This isn’t the first time the Lions have had a player, a defensive back no less, have a run in with the law that forced their exit from the team. Maybe the Lions most prized signing of the 2023 free agency period was cornerback Cam Sutton, who signed a three-year, $33 million contract in March of that year. He went on to have an up and down first season in Detroit, not putting up gaudy numbers but appearing in all 17 games.
It was one year later that Sutton’s world turned upside down, as he turned himself into authorities after police were trying to locate him for nearly a month. Sutton just so happened to surrender to the Hillsborough County Sherriff’s office, the same office Terrion Arnold was booked into on June 24th. After being charged with misdemeanor battery and soon after being released by the Lions, Sutton was suspended for eight games during the 2024 season as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The now 31-year-old was not on an NFL roster for the 2025 season and signs are pointing towards his career coming to a close. There is no way of knowing how Cam Sutton would of performed had he played out his contract with the Lions, but the fact that the franchise only got one year out of a player they hoped would be a steady presence at cornerback, is an indicator of how unfortunate they’ve been at filling the position.
Jeff Okudah
The 2020 NFL Draft will be remembered forever as the first fully virtual draft in the league’s history. With the pandemic putting a pause on games far and wide, the sports world narrowed it’s focus on the NFL’s incoming class of talent, and Lions fans debates grew in intensity and frequency as their team held the third overall selection.
We all know Jeff Okudah ended up being the pick, a highly touted cornerback out of Ohio State with a flashy highlight reel and solid measurables. But the elevated attention that year’s draft and his selection received, may have derailed his career before it even started.
Okudah got off to a good start, recording an interception in just his third ever game as a pro, but shoulder and groin injuries held him to just nine games played in his rookie campaign.
His sophomore season was very short lived, as an achilles tear in the home opener sent him down a long road to recovery. That journey seemed to have a happy ending when Okudah contributed to a handful of Lions wins in the latter half of 2022, even snagging a pick-6 in a big road win against the Bears.
However it wasn’t enough to convince the front office, which was completely new from the time he was brought to Detroit, to keep him around. Okudah was traded to the Falcons in exchange for a fifth round pick in 2023, and has since played for the Texans and the Vikings. Similar to Cam Sutton, he has yet to sign with an NFL team for the 2026 season and his career could also be on the fringe. Unlike Sutton, Lions fans shouldn’t be thinking about what could have been with Okudah, but instead be grateful that Brad Holmes was able to get some return for a player that didn’t hold much value at the time he was traded.
Darrius Slay & Quandre Diggs
2019 is the season that allowed the Lions the opportunity to draft Jeff Okudah, but the organization would probably like to forget that year for a multitude of reasons. Winning just three total games and finishing second-to-last in total defense are a couple of those, but a headscratcher from that time period was the teams decision to trade away safety Quandre Diggs.
The trade received backlash from Lions fans and players alike. Not only was Diggs voted a team captain, but he even signed a contract extension the year prior, making the transaction questionable to say the least. Only a fifth round pick was given by the Seahawks in return making it seem almost as if the Lions were simply looking to part ways at whatever the cost.
Since then fans have speculated the trade came as a result of a rift between the safety and the Lions head coach at the time, Matt Patricia. The same can probably be said for the reason why Darrius Slay was dealt the following offseason, the only difference being Slay has made his displeasure with his former coach very public.
After logging 19 interceptions in seven seasons in Detroit, Slay was traded to the Eagles for a third and fifth round pick during the 2020 NFL Draft. The six-time pro bowler was a very flamboyant and vocal athlete over the course of his career, and as a result wasn’t afraid to detail an instance where Patricia called him out publicly during a full team meeting. The incident probably wasn’t what broke the camels back so to say, but Slay was respected by the Detroit community, and it was unsettling for many to know his tenure with the Lions had a sour ending.