After a breakout season where he led the league in interceptions and earned a First Team All-Pro nod, the Detroit Lions made Kerby Joseph the highest-paid safety in NFL history with a four-year, $86 contract.
Joseph's 2025 season was derailed by an injury to his left knee, and he ended up not suiting up after Week 6. Dan Campbell was necessarily vague about the possibility of an in-season return fairly early on, and Joseph himself invited plenty of concern about the knee issue being something he'll deal with until further notice.
One of the bigger questions around the situation was if the Lions knew Joseph had a severe injury, why not put him on IR sooner to open up a roster spot? It felt like a situation a team should take out of the player's hands, as much as Joseph wanted to play.
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In the wake of all the Lions' injuries on the defensive side of the ball in 2024, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press caught up with former NFL team doctor Dr. David Chao during Super Bowl week last year.
This week, with another batch of Lions' injuries to discuss, Birkett talked to Chao again on Tuesday from Radio Row at Super Bowl LX.
Since he has not seen Joseph's medical charts, but with Birkett telling him about potentially seeking non-surgical treatments for his ailing knee, Chao discussed Joseph's situation in a bigger picture sense.
"This one's a little dicey, here. Once again rooting for him," said Dr. Chao. "But articular cartilage is the holy grail. If you could reproduce or regrow articular cartilage, you would win the Nobel Prize, okay. It is the holy grail. It's the tread on your tires. You can't just get retreads or put new tires on it. How do you replace the rubber on your tires? That's the articular cartilage. Poor vasculature. Very difficult."
Chao made a comparison to veteran edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, who had microfracture surgery on an injured knee early in his career.
"Very early in his career, Jadeveon Clowney had a micro fracture surgery that is for full thickness cartilage loss in an isolated area. I said that can be career-altering," said Dr. Chao. "He's outproduced expectations. Look at his longevity. But, that's also why he's never gotten a long-term deal, because everyone's always worried about that knee."
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Dr. Chao then circled back to Joseph.
"Kerby Joseph, I don't know the extent of his knee. But when you're starting to talk about stem cells, that means you're beyond even micro fracture," Chao said. "Look, Hail-Mary's get completed. Stem cells can help, but it's not one first down and you get to kneel down to win the game. It's not that. It's very dicey."
"I wish him the best. But this is not good news for a young player, and not good news for the Detroit Lions. Look, if you can get some time out of him, over the next year or two, a couple of years, I think that would be a victory. To say that he's going to fulfill this contract and get another one is a Hail-Mary. And I hope I'm wrong."
When asked about Joseph's situation during his season-ending press conference, Lions general manager Brad Holmes said the potentially long-term knee concern was a not a thing at the time the two sides agreed to a contract extension last spring.
But a closer look at the contract suggests some level of caution, whatever the reason. There are four void years tacked on (2030-2033), to spread out the cap implications of a massive $69.1 million total option bonus. There is no fully guaranteed salary after 2026. Over The Cap also offers this pertinent detail.
"Joseph has $13 million in injury protection for 2027 that will become fully guaranteed (partially in 2026, and remaining in 2027)."
That $13 million becomes fully guaranteed only if Joseph is unable to play due to injury. That is different from typical guarantees, which are owed regardless of health. Injury guarantees protect the player if his body breaks down, while also protecting the team if the player is healthy and they decide to move on.
In any case, nothing positive has been said or reported about Joseph's knee situation in recent weeks and months. The safety position is surely already on the Lions' radar to some degree this offseason, and with cost in mind a meaningful draft pick is probably an order now.