Injuries have not decimated their defense to the level they did last year, and that will never be repeated by them or any other team, but the Detroit Lions' secondary has been notably hit by injuries.
Cornerback D.J. Reed is not in line to return from the hamstring injury that landed him on IR until early December. Safety Kerby Joseph has missed the last three games due to a knee injury that lingered for weeks before he started to miss games. Cornerback Terrion Arnold seems to suffer a new injury practically every week, and the concussion he suffered in Week 10 threatens his status for at least Week 11.
As expected overall, the Lions did not make a major move at the trade deadline. In fact, they made no deadline deals at all. Still, there may be opportunities to add as some veteran free agents who could help the secondary remain available.
Lions beat writer squashes idea of popular late season addition
If not for a neck injury that cost him all but four games of last season with the Los Angeles Chargers, Asante Samuel Jr. would likely have cashed in nicely as a free agent back in March as one the top available cornerbacks. He was just recently cleared to play after having spinal fusion surgery during the offseason, and his itinerary of free agent visits filled up very quickly.
Two of the Lions' NFC North rivals (the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings) were on Samuel's initially reported itinerary, and a visit with the Chicago Bears was subsequently scheduled for Tuesday.
Samuel is clearly going through a thorough process to find his next team, with visits each weekday from last Wednesday through this Wednesday. Each team he visits also, obviously, wants to make sure to fully vet him medically.
Lions fans trust Brad Holmes completely, as they should. But it's still worth wondering why there has been no indications of interest in at least having Samuel in for a visit. His schedule filling up as quickly as it did may have been a factor there.
On Tuesday, Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports reported the Lions have not shown any interest in Samuel at this point in time.
I know there’s been interest from Lions fans as of late, but a source tells me the Lions have not reached out or been in contact with Asante Samuel Jr. at this time.
— Mike Payton (@AtoZ_Payton) November 11, 2025
Things can change, and change quickly, but the Lions being absent from Samuel's run of free agent visits always seemed have the simplest explanation. Right or wrong they just aren't sufficiently interested in him, and Payton's report has simply confirmed that.