The bad news is that, over the past four weeks, the Detroit Lions have the worst pass defense in pro football, and it's not close at all. The good news is that there are still 13 regular-season games to be played and plenty of time to solve this.
The November 10 trade deadline will loom large for the Lions. They already missed out on Pittsburgh Steelers star Joey Porter Jr., but there are some options that could be viable, cheaper, and more realistic.
ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler just linked them to Kansas City Chiefs veteran Kristian Fulton. As we had previously discussed, he's not a starter in Steve Spagnuolo's defense, and he would give this team a much-needed boost.
The Detroit Lions must trade for Kristian Fulton
"One potential option is Kansas City's Kristian Fulton, who is in and out of the Chiefs' lineup. He is owed real money -- $5 million of his $9.75 million base salary is guaranteed -- but perhaps the Chiefs and Lions could split the bill to facilitate a deal," wrote Fowler.
Fulton's situation in Kansas City has nothing to do with him. They're just too high on their young duo of Nohl Williams and Mansoor Delane, their latest first-round pick, who's also looking like a star in the making.
Fulton played when Delane was out with an injury, but he wasn't a factor once the rookie returned. However, he's actually been pretty solid for the Chiefs when healthy and available, dating back to last season.
The salary issue might be a problem, given that general manager Brad Holmes is overly focused on financial flexibility. That said, the Chiefs might be motivated to mitigate the hit, given that Fulton is on an expiring deal and there's no way he'll return if they continue to put Delane over him, which they will.
Even if Fulton were struggling, it's hard to believe he'd do any worse than what we've seen thus far. The Lions are making opposing quarterbacks look like Hall of Famers, and barely beating the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets definitely isn't encouraging.
This team has only won two games because they've faced bottom-feeding squads that don't know how to close out games, and they've also struggled against them. That said, all that matters is that the record shows 2-2.
The clock is ticking, but there's still time to make some moves. Hopefully, that humiliating road loss to the Carolina Panthers will be the wake-up call and catalyst this team so clearly needs to get to work. They won't be the only team looking for cornerback help, and adding Fulton to the mix before Brian Branch's return should give this ailing secondary a massive boost.
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