Detroit Lions to re-sign Nevin Lawson to 2-year, $10.3 million contract

The Detroit Lions didn’t waste any time in figuring out who will compete for the No. 2 cornerback spot after missing out on both Richard Sherman and Malcolm Butler.

According to Jason La Canfora, the Lions are re-signing Nevin Lawson to a two-year deal:

UPDATE: The Detroit Free Press is reporting it’s actually a two-year, $9.2 million deal, but with incentives that could push it to $10.2 million.

That’s a huge pay raise for Lawson, who just finished the last year on his four-year, $2.5 million rookie contract.

This is a pretty surprising move from the Lions, considering Lawson struggled to hold the No. 2 corner spot on his own in 2017. He regularly shared snaps with DJ Hayden, and appeared to struggle mightily at times. He finished the season with 47 tackles, just 4 passes defended, a forced fumble and a god-awful PFF score of 41.7 (112th out of 120).

Meanwhile, it looks like the Lions will be moving on from Hayden. According to Jaguars beat writer Ryan O’Halloran, Jacksonville is working on a deal for the Lions’ cornerback:

So it looks like it will be up to Nevin Lawson and Teez Tabor to compete for the Lions’ outside cornerback job alongside Darius Slay. That feels like a big disappointment considering the high-profile players they reportedly targeted. But on the bright side, they’ll have a lot more money at their disposal to spend elsewhere.