Breaking Down the Lions' New-Look Secondary

Logan Lamorandier breaks down the Lions' new-look secondary

With NFL free agency in full swing, the Lions and general manager Bob Quinn have been one of the most active teams so far. 

There are still plenty of free agents left on the open market, and the draft could also drastically change the current outlook of the Lions' secondary.

However, let's take a look at how the additions and subtractions made so far in the defensive backfield will impact the 2020 season.

Additions:

CB Desmond Trufant

FS Duron Harmon

SS Jayron Kearse

Subtractions:

CB Darius Slay

SS Tavon Wilson (potentially)

Overview:

The biggest move has obviously been the trade of three-time Pro Bowler Darius Slay. 

Replicating Slay's production and ability won't be easy. 

Now, Detroit did add Trufant who is a former Pro Bowler himself.

But, objectively speaking, he isn't in the same tier of Slay. 

Make no mistake, Trufant would have been one of the best second corner options in the NFL -- if Slay had stuck around.

However, as the top cover man, Trufant doesn't fall into the top half of the league's rankings. 

The one big positive from signing Trufant is his price tag. 

He comes quite a bit cheaper than Slay -- and for good reason. 

The trade of Slay freed up $10.5 million, which coincidentally is also the exact price Trufant costs on a yearly basis. 

Meanwhile, Slay is now the top-paid NFL cornerback -- making north of $16.5 million per year.

Going by the Pro Football Focus grading scale, Trufant's 70.3 overall grade actually trumps Slay's 56.4 2019 grade. 

You also, however, have to take into account that Slay traveled with the opponent's best receiver on a weekly basis with minimal help. Meanwhile, Trufant typically didn't shadow top wideouts.

In terms of recent production, Trufant also had more interceptions -- with four -- in just nine games than Slay -- with two -- did in 14 games last season. 

Not that picks are the only way to measure the talent of a cornerback, but the Lions are in desperate need of turnovers on defense. 

For passes defensed, Slay disrupted 13 passes to Trufant's seven a year ago. 

A small stat -- and an often overlooked one -- is the amount of penalties committed. 

Trufant didn't commit a single penalty, while Slay was called for a total of seven on the year.

As good of an athlete as Slay is, Trufant also is a slight upgrade in that department. 

Remember, there was a reason Trufant went ahead of Slay in the 2013 NFL Draft.

So still working on the final score compare and some formatting bits, but as good a time as any to show what I've been working on.#RAS compare between Desmond Trufant and Darius Slay

Once finished, going to get some serious mileage from this kind of card, for real. pic.twitter.com/KTVLzFLyUI

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 19, 2020

On to the safeties now. 

Tavon Wilson is a free agent who played a sizable role in the Lions' defense a year ago. 

With the Lions having acquired two more safeties in the past week, it would appear Wilson is on his way out. 

Losing Wilson -- who has been a solid role player -- is nowhere near the magnitude of the loss of Slay, especially considering the Lions have landed two very nice safeties. 

Duron Harmon is tied for the fifth-most interceptions for all safeties since 2017, while Jayron Kearse -- despite a smaller sample size -- graded out as the fourth-best safety per Pro Football Focus in 2019. 

"The Closer" is a nickname that the Patriots gave Harmon due to the eight interceptions he has recorded in the fourth quarter since 2015 -- the most in the NFL during that span. 

Again, going back to the Lions needing more takeaways in 2020, Harmon is a sneaky good addition.

The former Patriots keep coming, Harmon has lined up at FS 91.5% of the time since 2015 (reg. season only)

Harmon has earned a 92.6 Coverage grade at FS, T-6th among S

And when he was targeted, he made a play on the ball with a forced incompletion rate of 36% (1st)#OnePride https://t.co/ebw4BMscQK

— PFF DET Lions (@PFF_Lions) March 18, 2020

It is still to be determined how the Lions will deploy their top four safeties, but it does give the team a ton of versatility on the back end. 

Harmon and second-year pro Will Harris played mostly deep safety a season ago, and the odds are that Harris will move more into the Wilson box role in 2020. 

Never being known as a ball-hawk, Harris can put his athleticism and reliable tackling to good use closer to the line of scrimmage. 

Promising third-year safety Tracy Walker will still likely line up all over the field and be used as a chess piece.

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-4 Kearse is a physical presence that can also line up all over the field, but actually has played as a slot corner for a majority of his NFL snaps. 

The main role of Kearse will probably be as a core special teams contributor. 

Considering he only is on a one-year, $2.75 million contract, if he can contribute on defense as well, it'll turn out to be a nice deal.

With all of this said, the Lions still have nine selections in this upcoming draft, and the official start of free agency was only a day ago. 

In all likelihood, the Lions' secondary is not yet complete. But, at the very least, it could look quite a bit different than a season ago. 

We'll all just have to wait and see if shaking things up will improve a unit that struggled overall last season.

Related 

Grades for Lions' Offseason Acquisitions

Darius Slay Traded to Eagles for Third-and-Fifth-Round Pick