Authorities in Florida have issued an arrest warrant for Detroit Lions cornerback Cameron Sutton for alleged domestic battery by strangulation, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Authorities posted on social media that they needed the public’s assistance in locating a wanted subject.

“We became aware of the ongoing legal situation involving Cam Sutton this morning,” the Lions said in a statement on Wednesday. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will not have further comment at this time.”

Sutton, 29, signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Lions in March 2023 after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sutton has recorded nine interceptions in 101 games in his career with 56 starts.

4 former Detroit Lions who won’t live up to their new contracts

These four former Detroit Lions players got lofty contracts this offseason, and they’ll have a very hard time living up to them.

The Detroit Lions have had a solid run in 2024 free agency, addressing needs in a focused way with outside acquisitions while also not spending exorbitant money. The secondary waves of free agency may provide some opportunities to add pieces, and they surely have cap space to do something if it fits, but that’s to be determined.

As the Lions’ rebuild has moved forward and the talent level on the roster has been naturally bolstered, rather quickly too, players have departed one way or another for new teams.

A couple notable departures have happened for the Lions in this year’s free agency (Jonah Jackson, C.J. Gardner-Johnson), and there’s one more that seems likely to come before long (Josh Reynolds). But those departures don’t seem likely to negatively impact the team next season, or further in the future, and that speaks volumes about the work Brad Holmes has done.

With that, a deeper dive is required within a premise of former Lions who won’t live up to the new contracts they got this offseason. We have to go back beyond this offseason to make a list that’s full enough and worth doing, with teams former Lions have played for since leaving Detroit. That is another testament to what’s being done by Holmes and company, with savvy decision-making.

Even if some of these weren’t mistakes the Lions have avoided this offseason specifically, these former Lions players stand out as ultimately not being able to live up to their new contracts the got in 2024 free agency.

4 former Detroit Lions who won’t live up to their new contracts

4. DT/DE A’Shawn Robinson

Team/Contract: Carolina Panthers/Three years, $22.5 million; $10.375 guaranteed

The Panthers have made significant investments in the trenches on both sides of the ball via free agency, and rightfully so. That included a three-year deal for Robinson that stood out, and made him a top-30 highest-paid “defensive end” in the league by annual average ($7.5 million per year). Classifying him as a defensive end at all is interesting, since he’s better classified as an interior defensive lineman or simply a defensive tackle.

Robinson is undoubtedly a solid and experienced player a lot of teams wouldn’t mind having (including possibly the Lions, had they not signed DJ Reader). But he was Pro Football Focus’ 75th-ranked interior defensive lineman last year with the New York Giants, while playing 46 percent of their defensive snaps with 62 total tackles and six tackles for loss. His run defense grade from PFF was top-50 at the position (49th) though, for the league’s fourth-worst run defense last season, and Carolina can certainly use some help there. He does line up at multiple spots across the defensive line, and that versatility has some inherent value too.

Robinson’s best career PFF grades have clearly been in 2018 (with the Lions) and 2021 (with the Los Angeles Rams), but last year was a downturn compared to 2022 with the Rams that shouldn’t be ignored.

Good for him to get paid like he did, but the Panthers overpaid Robinson when they probably didn’t have to.

3. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Team/Contract: Philadelphia Eagles/Three years, reportedly up to $33 million

Gardner-Johnson set the stage for his departure from the Lions by openly being unhappy with playing in a three-man safety rotation when he returned from a torn pectoral last season. He made a bit of an impact, with a couple interceptions after he returned to action, but it was easy to assume he’d find a bigger role on another team upon hitting free agency again.

The details of Gardner-Johnson’s contract with the Eagles, who he played for in 2022 when he tied for the league lead in interceptions, aren’t officially out there yet as of this writing (which is weird, just over a week later).

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported it’s three years and worth “up to” $33 million.

That “up to” number opens the door for a low first year base salary, low overall guarantees (if any beyond the signing bonus) and a pile of incentives ranging across the spectrum of “likely” or “unlikely” to be earned.

There’s no denying what Gardner-Johnson can bring to a secondary as a versatile ballhawk, and intangibly with brash attitude. But he has also missed 14, five and five regular season games over the last three seasons, for three different teams, and last year’s injury that sidelined him for most of the season was not insignificant.

The Lions were not going to be bringing Gardner-Johnson back, even on a cheap contract, since he was sure to find a starting job elsewhere. Pending the concrete details to come, it seems the Eagles overpaid and overcommitted on the idea he’ll be able to recapture his 2022 form back with them.

2. OG Jonah Jackson

Team/Contract: Los Angeles Rams/Three years, $51 million; $34 million guaranteed

A free agent market that was rumored to be set to be booming for guards, and ultimately was, paved the path for Jackson to leave the Lions this offseason. The Rams ponied up, among what was likely to have been multiple suitors, with a nice three-year deal that is essentially a two-year commitment. He will of course reunite with Matthew Stafford, who he blocked for as a rookie in 2020.

Jackson followed earning a Pro Bowl nod as alternate in 2021 with another solid season in 2022. But he did miss four games that season, which set the stage for a 2023 season where he missed five regular season games and the NFC title game with three different injuries (ankle, wrist, knee). When he was on the field, he did not play particularly well, especially in pass protection (60.7 PFF grade).

Jackson is now one of the 10 highest-paid guards in the NFL, by any measure you want for 2024. The Rams are betting on a pretty notable rebound from last season (rooted in better availability) during his age-27, 28 and 29 seasons. Which might happen since he theoretically has some peak years left.

Again, we should never lament an NFL player getting paid big when he can. The Lions aren’t going to be able to pay everyone moving forward. It’s fair to assume they drew a line with Jackson, if they even seriously entered negotiations, knowing they could replace him one way or another and probably upgrade. They are in line to pay Kevin Zeitler and Graham Glasgow less than Jackson is making by himself this year, pending the full details of Zeitler’s contract that are not out at the time of this writing.

The Rams made a concerted effort to fortify their interior offensive line early in free agency. They paid for the privilege of landing Jackson, as a competitive guard market drove the price up higher than his 2023 performance backs up.

1. RB D’Andre Swift

Team/Contract: Chicago Bears/Three years, $24 million; $15.28 million guaranteed for injury, $14 million fully guaranteed at signing

The Bears seemed to be fairly solidly situated a running back, with Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson in place. Maybe solid isn’t quite enough though, and there’s a case for that. So, in what was literally the first announced deal of this year’s free agency after the legal negotiation window opened (some fast tampering, as some said in the moment), they agreed to terms with Swift on an eye-opening three-year deal.

Pro Football Focus overdid the number here, but even corrected to $8 million per year Swift is still tied for the ninth-highest paid running back in the league now (tied with Derrick Henry).

Based on what they’re paying him, Swift is the Bears’ No. 1 running back. The only game he missed last season for the Eagles was when he was rested in Week 18, but after a 130-yard game in Week 3 his efficiency dropped (3.9 yards per carry over the next 10 games). A min-surge over his final three games, against three of the four worst run defenses in the league last season, yielded the first 1,000-yard season of his career.

It can be argued, as was easy to see coming, the Eagles failed to use Swift appropriately as a pass catcher (49 targets) and the Bears will naturally feature him more in that area. There’s also a case for there being plenty of tread left on his tires, due to being so banged up during his time with the Lions and never topping 155 carries before 2023.

But the Bears bet on a whole of lot of “ifs” and hypotheticals in giving Swift the kind of deal they did. The biggest being that he can be efficient and explosive over a large workload that befits a lead back. Two teams have learned he can’t, the second after just one season. The Bears, to the favor of the Lions over the next couple years, are lined up to be No. 3.