Carlton Davis explains why he didn’t re-sign with Detroit Lions

This offseason, it was a bit surprising to see that the Detroit Lions—after using a third-round pick to trade for him in 2024—opted not to re-sign cornerback Carlton Davis after a solid year with the team. It turns out the Lions did make a play to re-sign the veteran cornerback, but there was a dispute in the contract language that prevented the two sides from coming together again.

Davis vaguely explained this week to Dave Birkett down at the Super Bowl.

“It was just the terms of the deal, which … I’m just going to keep undisclosed,” Davis said. “It was like the language inside of it that I wasn’t really fond of. So that was really it for sure.”

Birkett further explained in a tweet that money wasn’t the issue, but the structure of the deal.

Davis opted to sign a three-year, $54 million contract ($34.5 million guaranteed) with the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, the Lions pivoted to free agent cornerback D.J. Reed, who they inked to a three-year, $48 million contract with $32 million guaranteed.

Obviously, things have worked out for Davis, who is seeking his second Super Bowl ring on Sunday after winning it all with the Buccaneers five years ago. Meanwhile, Reed had a tumultuous year in Detroit following a serious hamstring injury that cost him six games.

Despite the contractual dispute, Davis has no ill will toward the Lions organization, including coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes.

“I love Detroit. Before the season started, I was rooting for those guys as far as like them making it back to the playoffs. I still got a lot of close relationships with the team,” Davis said. “Even like how it went with free agency with us and Brad and Dan, it was like a straight-up process. It wasn’t no bullshit around it. It was good conversation, good communication, so I got nothing bad to say about them.”

Sometimes things just don’t work out.