Amik Robertson’s Breakout Season Puts Lions’ Front Office on Notice: Tough Decisions Looms

If you asked me right here and now what the best acquisition the Detroit Lions made in the offseason was, It would be really hard for me to not say Amik Robertson. He has been such a big part of this secondary’s resurrection this year.

Robertson played really well in that nickel corner role all year, but then when Carlton Davis broke his jaw in Week 15, the Lions had to make the decision to move Robertson to the outside and put Branch at nickel.

Robertson has taken to it like a fish takes to water and he’s been very good. In three games on the outside, Robertson has allowed just 47.1% of passes thrown his way to be caught. It’s eight receptions for 123 yards in three games. He’s also had four pass breakups. That’s the second most in the NFL in the last three weeks.

The highlight was Sunday night against Justin Jefferson when Robertson held the All-Pro to just three catches for 54 yards on nine targets. It was a showing that made everyone notice how good he is.

The Lions are the team that obviously is noticing the most right now. With Robertson playing at this level, this is going to make the team have to make a hard choice this offseason when it comes to Carlton Davis.

Detroit traded a third-round pick to get him here and he played very well too. He was allowing just 50% of passes thrown his way to be caught and only allowed one touchdown all year. He also had two picks.

If you asked in Week 14 if the Lions should bring Davis back, the answer was a resounding yes. We even worked up a projection of what his next contract would look like and we came up with three years for $52 million with $35 million of that being guaranteed.

The Lions could pay this and I don’t think anyone would bat an eyelash at it or think it’s wrong, but they also now have the opportunity to move forward with Robertson at a significantly cheaper rate. Even if the team extended him in the offseason, it would still likely be cheaper than Davis’s potential new deal.

Maybe something like what the Bills recently gave Taron Johnson. A three extension worth $30.7 million. It helps that Robertson is also two years younger than Davis and he is more apt to grow long-term with the team.

If the Lions stick either way, they’ll be fine. But it makes sense that Robertson is going to get an extension after this season anyway, so maybe the Lions just go with one of these guys. This is a good problem to have.