On Saturday night, the Detroit Lions rewarded running back David Montgomery with a two-year contract extension that puts him among the 10 highest-paid running backs in the league based on the new money average.
Once again, the Lions have backed up their commitment to keeping their own players in place for the foreseeable future. It's also become abundantly clear that Montgomery is a symbol for the culture Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes have built and want to keep.
In 2023, Montgomery had multiple possible suitors as arguably the top available free agent running back. The Lions weren't necessarily on that list of potential suitors, but they pivoted very quickly to him when talks with Jamaal Williams broke down. There were indications the contract offers were the same, or very similar, even as Williams called out the Lions for the offer he got. The benefit of hindsight being what it is, and though it was obvious off the bat that Montgomery was/is a more talented player, the Lions made a great pivot.
Of course the Chicago Bears could have, in theory, kept Montgomery. But it's also fair to say, based on his subsequent sentiment about playing for them, that he was going to survey all his options before he considered going back to the team that drafted him. And a subsequent report suggested the Bears' offer was not all that competitive based on what the Lions gave him (no guaranteed money after the first year).
Tarik Cohen pointedly calls out Bears GM after David Montgomery contract news
This summer, Tarik Cohen gave up his comeback attempt for good after injuries derailed his NFL career. But he spent all four seasons of his career (2017-2020) with the Bears, including the last two sharing the backfield with Montgomery,
On the heels of the news Montgomery got a contract extension from the Lions, Cohen posted to social media to call out Bears general manager Ryan Poles.
"Any GM who would let bro walk is stupid af."
Tarik Cohen is bold @DetroitPodcast pic.twitter.com/dCDlKc3dv3
— Detroit Lions On SI (@AllLionsFN) October 13, 2024
The Bears decided to see what Khalll Herbert had rather than re-sign Montgomery, and they took Roschon Johnson in the 2023 draft. Then in March of this year, they gave former Lions running back D'Andre Swift a big contract to be their new lead back. While they might not regret the decision to let Montgomery go in a broad sense, having him succeed like he has with a division rival has to hurt a little bit.