Saturday open thread: Should the Detroit Lions still draft a CB early?

The Detroit Lions entered free agency with cornerback as one of their top needs. After releasing Nevin Lawson right before the tampering period, it was arguably their biggest need. With Darius Slay being the only realistic option to start at Detroit’s three starting cornerback roles, the Lions had some serious work to do over the past two weeks.

But general manager Bob Quinn got his hands dirty and immediately landed one of the best cornerbacks available, inking nickel cornerbacks Justin Coleman to a massive three-year deal.

As many began to speculate whether Detroit would move Coleman to an outside corner position—the one he played when with New England briefly—the Lions landed another cornerback on Friday night. Rashaan Melvin is the latest addition to the secondary, and with 26 games started in the past three seasons, Detroit has an experienced option opposite Slay that could very realistically be Detroit’s starter in 2019.

So now that Detroit potentially has their three starters, what does that mean for their NFL Draft strategy? Today’s Question of the Day is:

Should the Lions still draft a cornerback early (first three rounds)?

My answer: Per usual, I’m going to cheat here, because I don’t think this is a simple yes or no answer.

What the Lions did in free agency is made it so they don’t have to prioritize cornerback in the draft. They don’t have to weigh their draft board towards grabbing a corner, because it is no a drastic need.

In other words, the Lions are now one step closer to making their draft board Best Player Available, which is ideally where you want to be when you’re on the clock. There are still some big holes on this roster: tight end, right guard and backup running back, among others. However, you’re not just drafting for this year, you need to think ahead. And with Melvin only on a one-year deal, cornerback remains a very big need for the future.

So the Lions are in a very simple position: If a cornerback they like is there when they are on the clock, they should absolutely take him. But there is no need to be aggressive and spend future draft capital to go up and get one. So my answer is yes, they should take a cornerback early, but only if one they really like is there (preferably in the second round).

Your turn.