An unfortunate interruption to the NFL free agency and draft discussions hit Detroit on Wednesday. A warrant for the arrest of Lions cornerback Cam Sutton was released on social media by officials in Florida involving charges of domestic violence that include strangulation.
Sutton has been missing since the incident in the early hours of March 7th in the Tampa region. His phone and car remain unable to be found, too.
Here’s everything we know about the ongoing situation with Sutton, from the start to the most current. We’ll keep updating as we learn more facts.
The original warrant
Updated charge
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department updated the charge to include “Domestic Battery by Strangulation”
Lions statement
The Lions released a statement just after 1 p.m. ET that read,
“We became aware of the ongoing legal situation involving Cam Sutton this morning. We will continue to monitor the situation and will not have further comment at this time.”
More on the fugitive status
Justin Rogers and Robert Snell of the Detroit News published this update after speaking with assistant chief communications officer Phil Martello from the HCSD,
“We tried to make contact with (Sutton),” Martello said. “We’ve called him, no answer. He’s been ducking us. Our deputies have exhausted all leads here. He’s got vehicles and a home in a county one over from us, and he’s not been there, and we’ve not been able to catch him there. So, again, it seems like he’s turned his phone off or gotten rid of his phone or something because we haven’t been able to get ahold of him.”
Potential root cause of the alleged assault
In the report from the Detroit News, Rogers and Snell noted that Sutton has been involved in an ongoing legal dispute with a Florida woman over parental rights and paternity. From the Detroit News,
A final judgment of paternity was issued in February, and the case was active as recently as March 6 – one day before the alleged domestic violence incident – when the parties were scheduled for a Zoom hearing.
What Sutton is facing
Per MLive’s Kyle Meinke, it’s a serious charge for Sutton,
“He is charged with domestic battery by strangulation, which is a third-degree felony in Florida”, Meinke noted in a piece that further elaborates on the unsuccessful search by authorities in Florida that includes multiple homes, phones and cars.
Sutton’s contract
Sutton signed in Detroit last year. He is heading into the second season of a three-year, $33 million contract. He is due a $10.5 million salary in 2024. Sutton’s cap figure of $12.618 million for 2024 also includes $2.18 million for this year’s amortization of his $10.9 million signing bonus.
In other recent situations, arrests like this have led to NFL teams being able to void the future guaranteed monies in a contract. But that’s not germane until the NFL gets involved in the Sutton situation, which has not happened as of 8:15 p.m. ET on March 20th.