The Detroit Lions were expecting 2023 free agent signing Cameron Sutton to start at one of the cornerback spots this coming season. That is not going to be the case.
One day after Florida’s Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced that Sutton was wanted on charges of domestic battery violence by strangulation, the Lions have opted to release the veteran cornerback. They made the announcement official on social media Thursday.
The release from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office a day earlier seemed to be a precursor to Sutton’s release by Detroit.
“What we can release, that our deputies are comfortable with, is on the 7th of March is when this occurred, around 4:35 in the morning is when we got a call,” assistant chief communications officer Phil Martello told the Detroit News. “It was a domestic violence (call) and we’re not comfortable to really say who (the victim) is.
We tried to make contact with (Sutton). 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.”
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Sutton, 29, signed a three-year, $33 million contract with Detroit last offseason. He spent his first six NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers after being a third-round pick out of Tennessee in 2017.
In his first season with the Detroit Lions, Sutton recorded 65 tackles, six passes defended and one interception. The Lions will now be looking for a new starting cornerback opposite the recently acquired Carlton Davis.