Detroit Lions 2024 Offseason Thread

[Motown Bombers]

Lions would only save $1.5 million in cap space if he's cut post June 1st. 

[Tigeraholic1]

32 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

Mike Williams signed with the Jets, he's one of the WRs I was interested in to fill the Reynolds role but its not to be. 

Im starting to get the feeling that we may use the draft to fill that need which would be fine with me.

Considering the cost of WRs it makes sense to draft 1  every couple years so you're not stuck having to pay 2 big contracts down the road. 

Yeah deal is for up to 15 mil, hard pass. Draft a project sounds much better.

[Motown Bombers]

Two weeks ago? Did the Lions know?

 

[MichiganCardinal]

For like three days, the roster had no holes.

[RedRamage]

44 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Lions would only save $1.5 million in cap space if he's cut post June 1st. 

But what if the contract is voided? If there's a clause in the contract that let's the Lions void it if the accusation is proven true do the Lions get all the money back for the cap?

[MichiganCardinal]

24 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Two weeks ago? Did the Lions know?

 

Probably not. If the police haven't been able to get in touch with him, I doubt he's been forthcoming with his employer about it. And it's not like the Lions can monitor every county's criminal justice system just in case one of their players is issued a warrant.

[Shinzaki]

Uh-oh....if he's in any way, shape or form guilty...gotta think he's gone

[Motown Bombers]

6 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

But what if the contract is voided? If there's a clause in the contract that let's the Lions void it if the accusation is proven true do the Lions get all the money back for the cap?

By the time it would go to trial we are already into the season unless he takes a plea deal. Reading from trusted sources, this situation does not sound good. I would not be surprised if he never plays for the Lions again. 

[KL2]

Stephen Gilmore signed yet?

[RedRamage]

10 minutes ago, GoBlue23 said:

Lions need to cut this clown loose today.  It's not just that he's been accused but the fact that he's in hiding and law enforcement has to go on social media in an attempt to find him.  

You're conjecturing a lot of things here... We don't know what the police have or haven't done to try to contact him. Are they just calling his cellphone? If it's an unknown number I don't usually pick up when I get a call. Did the police contact his agent or the Lions to ask if they could get them in touch with him? If so, did the agent or the Lions contact Sutton and he still didn't contact the police? I'm loath to take drastic action without proof of guilt.

What the NFL needs to do (and other sport too) is have an "administrative leave" sorta situation where a team can put a player on this list. During that time the players paychecks go into escrow and the player is not considered as on the roster. This would let teams evaluate what's going on without penalty to them or the player until the facts are confirmed.

[KL2]

1 minute ago, Motown Bombers said:

By the time it would go to trial we are already into the season unless he takes a plea deal. Reading from trusted sources, this situation does not sound good. I would not be surprised if he never plays for the Lions again. 

He doens't have to be convicted to use the out. 

 

Players convicted of a crime or subject to a disposition of a criminal proceeding (as defined in this Policy) are subject to discipline. But even if the conduct does not result in a criminal conviction, players found to have engaged in any of the following conduct will be subject to discipline. Prohibited conduct includes but is not limited to the following: ▪ Actual or threatened physical violence against another person, including dating violence, domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of family violence;

[KL2]

1 minute ago, RedRamage said:

You're conjecturing a lot of things here... We don't know what the police have or haven't done to try to contact him. Are they just calling his cellphone? If it's an unknown number I don't usually pick up when I get a call. Did the police contact his agent or the Lions to ask if they could get them in touch with him? If so, did the agent or the Lions contact Sutton and he still didn't contact the police? I'm loath to take drastic action without proof of guilt.

What the NFL needs to do (and other sport too) is have an "administrative leave" sorta situation where a team can put a player on this list. During that time the players paychecks go into escrow and the player is not considered as on the roster. This would let teams evaluate what's going on without penalty to them or the player until the facts are confirmed.

A) Do you think the police just try to call once don't leave a message and then be like oh well time to go to social media?

B) the nfl has an exempt list like all other leagues. 

[Motown Bombers]

From what I gather from Birkett, police were called to a situation in progress, Sutton was gone by the time they arrived, girlfriend had injuries, arrest warrant was issued. They've tracked his car around Florida but haven't been able to catch up with him. 

[Motown Bombers]

Sutton is a professional athlete. How long does he think he can evade police?

[RedRamage]

2 minutes ago, KL2 said:

A) Do you think the police just try to call once don't leave a message and then be like oh well time to go to social media?

B) the nfl has an exempt list like all other leagues. 

A.) I have no idea. I'm sure they tried to call more than once and left a message if they were able. That doesn't mean that Sutton say a number, recognized it as the same number, and figured it was an important call (ie, not a spam/scam call) and decided to ignore it. It does mean that Sutton has voice messages turned on, and if he does that his mailbox isn't full, and if it isn't that he actually checked and listened to his voice message. 

Now IF he really did throw his gf out a 3rd story window, he's got expect the police are looking for him and then it might be reasonably to think he's trying to hide from the police. But again this is conjecture. We don't know. Once we do know and if he is evading/hiding, then I'll be in agreement with GoBLue: Cut him now.

B.) The except list still pays the player. I want a way for the team to NOT pay the player until the situation gets settled. Then if the player is found not guilty and the team wants to keep him, he gets all the money that was in escrow. If he's found guilty or if at any point the team wants to void the contract the money goes back to the team.

[Motown Bombers]

Unless Sutton has been in the same hole in the ground for the past two weeks that Aaron Rodgers was in last year, I cannot imagine he's unaware there is a warrant out for his arrest. 

[Motown Bombers]

At least Sutton didn't do something truly awful like gamble on non NFL games at the Lions hotel.

[KnoxP]

14 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Unless Sutton has been in the same hole in the ground for the past two weeks that Aaron Rodgers was in last year, I cannot imagine he's unaware there is a warrant out for his arrest. 

While we can not guarantee anything from our seats, but as black as this sounds...unless he is dead...there's no way he does not know.  

Edited March 20, 2024 by KnoxP

[Jason_R]

They will cut him. No chance Sheila will allow him to stay on the roster. 

[MichiganCardinal]

33 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

You're conjecturing a lot of things here... We don't know what the police have or haven't done to try to contact him. Are they just calling his cellphone? If it's an unknown number I don't usually pick up when I get a call. Did the police contact his agent or the Lions to ask if they could get them in touch with him? If so, did the agent or the Lions contact Sutton and he still didn't contact the police? I'm loath to take drastic action without proof of guilt.

This is highly jurisdictional specific. Some police departments and prosecutors will try and some won’t. I’ve seen warrants being issued many months after the alleged incident, and it just lying there for many more months until someone gets pulled over and told surprise, you’ve got a warrant.

I suspect this police department knew full well what their sending out a “Warrant Wednesday” on an NFL player would do though.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

This is ugly and awful news to hear about. Domestic violence is a serious matter that deserves serious attention. It is far more important than the game of football. Cam Sutton is innocent until proven guilty. But going out on the lam and evading law enforcement is never a good look for an innocent person. If he is guilty of this alleged domestic violence you'd have to imagine he's no longer a culture fit here and will be cut. I don't think this organization, with this regime, will tolerate this type of behavior. If he did engage in domestic violence against his partner then Sutton is as good as gone IMO.

[SkyBlue]

43 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

You're conjecturing a lot of things here... We don't know what the police have or haven't done to try to contact him. Are they just calling his cellphone? If it's an unknown number I don't usually pick up when I get a call.

I can tell you when the police have contacted our family their number never comes up as unknown. I would be surprised if this is the case.   While it appears he is definitely guilty of something let it play out before cutting him without the facts.

[RedRamage]

11 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

They will cut him. No chance Sheila will allow him to stay on the roster. 

Which again is why I want that other special status... Based on what info is being thrown around it certainly seems likely that there's fire tied to this smoke. But we don't know for sure, and independent of this situation there may be other situations where it's less clear if there's fire or not.

A team is in a catch-22... if they cut the player and he's found innocent, they potentially lost out on his talent. The player gets a public black eye because he was cut and losing out on his salary. 

But if a team doesn't cut the player right quickly and he's found guilty the team gets the black eye for paying and associating with a bad individual.

A temporary status protects the teams and the players and the image. "We're temporarily disassociating ourselves from this player until all the facts are known and he has his day in court. If he's guilty, he's gone and doesn't get back pay. If he's innocent he's restore to full status and gets his back pay."

[Jason_R]

4 minutes ago, GoBlue23 said:

This statement kills the narrative any Sutton defenders are putting out there.............

"We tried to make contact with (Sutton)," Martello said. "We've called him, no answer. He's been ducking us. Our deputies have exhausted all leads here. He's got vehicles and a home in a county one over from us and he's not been there and we've not been able to catch him there. So, again, it seems like he's turned his phone off or gotten rid of his phone or something because we haven't been able to get ahold of him."

It would be very surprising if deputies have not also been in contact with the suspect’s employer. 

[RedRamage]

3 minutes ago, GoBlue23 said:

This statement kills the narrative any Sutton defenders are putting out there.............

"We tried to make contact with (Sutton)," Martello said. "We've called him, no answer. He's been ducking us. Our deputies have exhausted all leads here. He's got vehicles and a home in a county one over from us and he's not been there and we've not been able to catch him there. So, again, it seems like he's turned his phone off or gotten rid of his phone or something because we haven't been able to get ahold of him."

Saying we don't know all the facts is not "defending" him.

And based on the information that is coming out, it's looking more and more like Sutton is attempting to evade the police. We still don't know all the fact, but it definitely not looking good and not leaning in his favor.