Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft (April 24-26 in Green Bay), we’ll be taking a position-by-position look at the Detroit Lions‘ roster and how the team’s needs can be met on draft weekend. Today: Secondary.

Current roster outlook

The Lions have steadily fixed their secondary over the last few seasons. After years of it being a deficiency, the safety tandem of All-Pro Kerby Joseph and Pro Bowler Brian Branch proved to be one of the best, if not the best, in the NFL last season.

Joseph became eligible for a contract extension this offseason and is entering the final year of his deal; next offseason, Branch will be in the same position. Should Detroit bring them both back, it’s possible that the duo will end up as some of the highest-paid safeties in the league (with each deal worth upward of $20 million annually).

Though that position looks strong, Detroit bid farewell to Ifeatu Melifonwu in free agency. When healthy, Melifonwu’s combination of size and speed made him a dangerous player in three-safety looks, with his blitzing ability among the best on the team, so there’s a role up for grabs there. Entering the draft, the Lions’ safety depth is comprised of Loren Strickland, Erick Hallett II and Morice Norris. It’d be prudent to start backfilling at this position at the draft to make some decisions down the road a bit easier.

At cornerback, the team is in good shape. Terrion Arnold, the No. 24 pick in last year’s draft, steadily improved over his rookie season and is a top candidate to take the biggest leap in 2025. Opposite of Arnold, the team ensured the departure of Carlton Davis III wouldn’t sting too badly by signing veteran DJ Reed, a player of similar caliber, from the New York Jets in free agency.

The Lions added another cornerback in last year’s draft, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., with the 60th pick. He was a standout in training camp but dealt with injuries all of last season and missed out on a starting opportunity in Week 2 that could have led to a prominent role in the defense for the rest of his rookie campaign. Rakestraw is expected to challenge Amik Robertson, who’s entering the final season of his two-year agreement, for the starting nickel cornerback job next season.

Khalil Dorsey, one of the team’s best gunners on punt coverage, is also back for another season and will serve as a reliable depth option alongside returning defensive back Stantley Thomas-Oliver and two free agency signings, Avonte Maddox and Rock Ya-Sin.

Level of need: Low-medium

Detroit has up-and-coming talent all over its secondary, but will face some extreme financial commitments because of it in the next few seasons. If the Lions hope to get cheaper in the defensive backfield, it’d be wise to start adding that talent in the near future. Given the track record of Lions general manager Brad Holmes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lions add a cornerback or safety (or both) early in this draft.

At the top

This year’s cornerback group features the draft’s most tantalizing prospect, two-way star and reigning Heisman winner Travis Hunter (Colorado). It’s expected that he’ll be gone within the first few picks, most likely to the Cleveland Browns at No. 2. Behind him, Jahdae Barron (Texas), who picked off five passes last year, and Will Johnson (Michigan) are projected to be the next two cornerbacks off the board, with both of those guys having the potential to be top-15 picks.

From there, the top of the board has a lot of variance. West Bloomfield’s Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky) has been climbing up draft boards since the NFL Combine and could sneak into the back half of the first round. Shavon Revel (East Carolina), who had his 2024 season ended by a torn ACL, is also a late climber with first-round potential. Other potential first-rounders include Trey Amos (Ole Miss), Azareye’h Thomas (Florida State) and Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame).

At safety, there are really only two prospects with first-round buzz entering next week: Malaki Starks (Georgia), who fits the do-it-all mold of a player like Branch, and Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina). Most mock drafts have Starks as the first safety off the board, with some even believing he could be a top-10 pick. But as we’ve seen with top safeties over the years, it also wouldn’t be surprising to see him slip to the end of the first round, making him available for the Lions, or into Day 2 altogether. Emmanwori (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) is one of the draft’s best athletes; he recorded a 4.38 in the 40, a 43-inch vertical jump and an 11-foot-6 broad jump and makes good use of it in his versatile game.

Teams who could be after a DB in Round 1

Cleveland Browns (No. 2), New York Jets (7), Carolina Panthers (8), New Orleans Saints (9), San Francisco 49ers (11), Miami Dolphins (13), Arizona Cardinals (16), Cincinnati Bengals (17), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (19), Green Bay Packers (23), Minnesota Vikings (24), Los Angeles Rams (26), Baltimore Ravens (27), Washington Commanders (29), Buffalo Bills (30)

Crystal Ball: Star-studded 2019 opener provided clear 2025 draft preview

Down the board

If the Lions happen to address other positions on the field during the draft’s early stages, there will be several intriguing options to help aid the defensive backfield in Days 2 and 3.

The consensus is that Xavier Watts (Notre Dame), tied for second in interceptions (six) last year, is the third-best safety in the draft; he’s an option for the Lions on Day 2. Penn State has a pair of safeties that are expected to be gone by the middle rounds, Kevin Winston Jr. and Detroit native Jaylen Reed (Detroit King). Andrew Mukuba (Texas) was one of the best coverage safeties in the nation last season (tied-fourth with five interceptions) and has Day 2 potential. Lathan Ransom (Ohio State) and Malachi Moore (Alabama), two other middle-round guys, were solid run defenders and could help fill the void left by Melifonwu (not that Detroit will be trying to find a one-for-one replacement for that “need”). R.J. Mickens (Clemson) is an attractive late-round option with good coverage ability.

Among the cornerbacks expected to be available on Days 2 and 3, Cobee Bryant (Kansas) stands out as a player with the mental makeup Detroit is looking for; he’s a willing run defender and snagged four interceptions last season. Nohl Williams (Cal), who led the nation in interceptions (seven), and Jacob Parrish (Kansas State) could easily find their way to Detroit in the earlier rounds.

Denzel Burke (Ohio State) was at one time thought of as a possible first- or second-rounder in last year’s draft, but after returning for a title-winning season with the Buckeyes, his stock has slipped; he enters the draft as a late-Day 2, early-Day 3 guy. Western Michigan is putting a lengthy cornerback into the draft in Bilhal Kone (6-foot-2), who had six pass breakups and an interception last year.

Time to target

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lions grab a falling safety at the back end of the first round, but if Detroit does add to the secondary, our best guess is that it’ll come on Day 3 (or even late on Day 2), when there will be plenty of gems to mine. Cornerbacks (and to a lesser extent, safeties) tend to be similar to receivers in the sense that there’s always a “voluminous” (as Holmes would put it) supply of potential contributors down the board.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Lions made several signings in the first wave of NFL free agency that bode well from a culture and talent standpoint.

Cornerback DJ Reed, nose tackle Roy Lopez and linebacker Grant Stuard all fit the profile of talented players who represent the right things, Lions coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL’s annual league meetings this week.

“For what they’re asked to do, they’re all three competitive, productive players. And I think that’s just, man, it’s the way they play the game. They don’t back down from anybody,” Campbell said.

Reed was the headliner of Detroit’s free-agent class. After three seasons with the New York Jets, he signed a three-year, $48 million contract with Detroit to uphold the expectations for a man-heavy scheme with corners who get busy in the run game. Reed was a replacement for Carlton Davis III, who left for the New England Patriots on a deal that paid him slightly more (three years, $54 million).

“He’s got cover ability. He can play man-to-man. … But he’ll bite on the perimeter, right? He’ll come up. He’ll tackle. He’ll squeeze the edges. He’ll mix it up, and then he’ll challenge you at the catch point,” Campbell said. “Man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive.”

Campbell said he fell in love with Reed’s competitiveness while watching crossover tape last year. His favorite moment was actually one where Reed got beat and recovered, showing a never-say-die attitude on his way to getting back in the play.

“You get beat at corner, that’s part of this league. He gets beat, he puts his foot in the ground, and I mean, he is on an all-out — he doesn’t have time to think about recovering. He is just on beeline to try to angle this guy off,” Campbell said. “I thought that was one of the most impressive things. Man, this guy doesn’t go in the tank, he’s not worried about what it looks like. He’s just trying to compete and win. And he lines up and he’s back for more.

“That says it all. He’s got the attributes. He’s got the skill level. But man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive. He doesn’t get down, man.”

Campbell didn’t have to watch crossover tape to become familiar with Lopez. He saw Lopez’s ability firsthand when the Lions traveled to play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 last season. He was impressed with how the 6-foot-2, 318-pound former wrestler competed against second-team All-Pro center Frank Ragnow, calling Lopez a “down and dirty” player.

“He’s taking on the double-teams. He’s keeping people off the backers. He can get an edge on you,” Campbell said of Lopez, who signed a one-year deal with Detroit in March. “And he’ll just do it time in, time out, again over and over. One of the things that impressed me about him was when we played him. I mean, him going against Frank all day. We ran the heck out of the ball, but man, that guy held his own now and we’ve got a pretty damn good center. That was impressive.”

Campbell brought Stuard’s name up earlier in the session, following a question about how the Lions continue to refine their culture with free-agent additions. At the time of his signing, Stuard said the selling point for coming to Detroit was playing against the Lions last season. He remembered thinking, “Man, if there’s a whole building of people like that, I’d love to be there.”

“If you’ve got some tools and you’ve got some talent but you’ve got a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and you’re a guy who believes you can do it in this league, and it doesn’t matter if you have the big name or the flash or the most money, then you belong here because you can play,” Campbell said. “It’s one of the reasons we brought in Stuard, too. It’s a guy that flies under the radar.”

Campbell added: “Stuard can do it all, man. He’s a guy that’s been counted out, but just continues to make plays in this league. He’s a dynamic special-teams player, in my opinion, and he can play defense.”

Campbell is taking a wait-and-see approach to determining whether the Lions’ defense will be better than the one that started last season.

“We’ll find out on the grass,” he said. “I have no idea until we get on the grass. I’ll be able to tell you that (in) probably September. I don’t know, maybe late September.”