Lions sign former Falcons corner Desmond Trufant to two-year, $21 million deal

Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

The Falcons made it official today by cutting former long-time starting corner Desmond Trufant. Trufant, a former first-round pick who signed a nice $69 million deal in 2017, became more expensive than his performance warranted.

Trufant, turning 30 in September, made the Pro Bowl back in 2015. He missed 7 games in 2016 and 7 more in 2019. Trufant spent seven seasons as Atlanta’s top corner. He was almost always technically sound and was a solid performer, but the Falcons paid him like an elite corner when he was always a bit beneath that level.

Only hours after he was officially cut, Trufant found a new home with the Detroit Lions.

CB Desmond Trufant is signing with the #Lions, per source. The deal is for 2 years, $21M, $14M guaranteed.

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 18, 2020

It is an offseason of change for 2013 draft corners. Only a few slots after Trufant was drafted, the Minnesota Vikings took Xavier Rhodes. Rhodes was cut last week. A couple of slots after Rhodes, the Lions took Darius Slay. Slay is asking for a new deal, and the Lions plan to let him find that elsewhere.

Now that the Lions have signed former Falcons’ CB Desmond Trufant, it allows them to continue shopping CB Darius Slay.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2020

Trufant should be a solid addition to the Lions, but is almost certainly a drop off from Slay. The former Falcons corner is still young enough to perform at a high level. We wish him well in his new home and hope to see his recent interception streak continue in Detroit.

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