Unburied: Revisiting how Amik Robertson's landed in Detroit and his faith the future will take care of itself
Allen Park — After falling just shy of the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance months earlier, the Detroit Lions recognized an urgent need to upgrade the cornerback position during the 2024 offseason.
The previous year’s collective — Cam Sutton, Jerry Jacobs and Kindle Vildor — wasn’t cutting it. And that was before an off-field issue prematurely ended Sutton’s tenure with the team in March.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes aimed to use every avenue at his disposal to remake the room, exploring the trade market, free agency and the draft. In the end, he reshaped the group using all three paths.
In the days before the start of the new league year in March, Holmes was negotiating on two fronts, which he later admitted he believed was an either-or situation.
On the first, Holmes was talking to Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht about a trade for Carlton Davis III. With the other, Detroit’s GM was exploring the possibility of signing free agent Amik Robertson.
Licht and Holmes agreed first, the day before free agents could sign with new teams, sending Davis and two sixth-round picks to the Lions for a third-round choice in the following month’s draft.
It was a huge get for the Lions. Despite some durability concerns, Davis could unquestionably fill the team’s void for a No. 1 corner. However, with the agreement, everyone in the building thought it meant they lost out on the opportunity to add the talented but less-proven Robertson.
In reality, the Lions never lost Robertson. He badly wanted to come to Detroit. Having played against them in 2023, he was enamored by their playing style and coach Dan Campbell.
When the Lions traded for Davis, Robertson was devastated. He thought he had asked for too much in contract negotiations, specifically a third year added to Detroit’s offer, forcing them into seeking an alternative.
Knowing things move fast in free agency, and unsure if Detroit was still an option, Robertson’s agent presented him with some alternative offers. But the cornerback wanted to wait a night, see if the Lions were still interested, because if the only factor added to the equation was more competition, that sure as hell wasn’t going to change his mind.
“I thought I f_____ up the opportunity to be here,” Robertson said. “My agent said, ‘You can wait or you can take one of these options that we have on the table. But if you wait, you could lose these options.’
“I prayed,” Robertson said. “I took a second. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m going to wait. I felt like this was where my heart was. …The next morning, they called again. My agent told me, ‘Look, man, they’re calling back. I said, I don’t give a f___ what they’re offering, let’s get the deal done.’ I didn’t really care about who was there, or whatever, I’m a highly competitive guy.”