NFL free agency: Predicting the best free agent all 32 teams will sign in 2023
By Ryan Heckman
Predicting the best free agent the Detroit Lions will sign: Byron Murphy, CB
Talk about a team on the rise over the second half of the season, the Detroit Lions’ future looks incredibly bright. Offensively, they can hang with the best of them. Defensively, though, it’s a different story.
Up front, the Lions have a great thing going with the breakout of rookie pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson. But, he needs some help behind him. The Lions’ pass defense was one area of concern, all season long, for this unit.
Detroit gave up the third-most passing yards per game this year at over 245, and they have to finally find an answer at cornerback.
After his best year as a pro in 2021, Byron Murphy’s season ended early, playing in just nine games before a lingering back injury caused him to miss the rest of the year.
With his rookie deal coming up and the Cardinals looking for a new head coach, it’ll be a ripe position for another team to swoop in and pay Murphy, who is just 24 years old (he’ll turn 25 in a few days).
Murphy picked off four passes in 2021 while finishing with a career-high 12 passes defended. He’ll give the Lions exactly what they need to add to this defense.