Before 2025 free agency even started, the Detroit Lions made a move to retain another of their homegrown players. With some likely competition if he hit the open market in mind, linebacker Derrick Barnes was signed to a three-year, $24 million contract with $16 million guaranteed.
Coming off a knee injury that shortened his 2024 campaign, that was quite a contract for Barnes, who as part of this regime's first draft class in 2021. On the surface, even with Barnes an ideal fit for the SAM linebacker role in what would become Kelvin Sheppard's defense, it was easy to see it as a potential overpay.
Barnes started all 17 games this season. with 78 total tackles, four sacks, one interception and six tackles for loss while playing 85 percent of the defensive snaps. He also played a uniquely versatile role, with 460 snaps lined up as a defensive lineman, 374 snaps as a box defender and 101 snaps as a slot corner (according to Pro Football Focus).
All in all, there should be no complaints about how Barnes performed. Being further removed from that knee injury should be a good thing looking toward next season.
Lions' contract decision might've truly been a mistake
The Lions signing Barnes to the contract they did last offseason also seemed to send an undeniable message to someone else in the linebacking corps, effectively telling him he had no long-term future on the team. Nevermind how that to-this-point unnamed linebacker, who probably doesn't have to be named and does play a different role in the defense than Barnes, just might be the better player of the two.
Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus has outlined each NFL team's best and worst 2025 free agent signings after one season. Barnes was regarded as the worst signing of last offseason for the Lions.
"Detroit bestowed a three-year, $24 million contract upon Barnes, but the preliminary results of the big deal aren’t terrific. Barnes’ passer rating when targeted elevated from 56.3 last season to 112.4 in 2025, and his 5.3% run stop rate was in the 20th percentile. There may be some buyer’s remorse with the 26-year-old."
A couple weeks after Barnes got the contract he did, perhaps not coincidentally, Alex Anzalone reminded everyone how important he has been to the Lions' defense when a piece of data was put out there from the 2024 season.
No other LB asked to do what I do https://t.co/OtY5npIiYq
— Alex Anzalone (@AlexAnzalone34) March 26, 2025
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Despite clear unhappiness with his contract situation, and the Lions getting him to show up with a lame adjustment to the final year of his contract early in camp, Anzalone delivered again this season. He finished second on the team in tackles, with nine pass breakups and a better PFF pass rushing grade (and more quarterback hits) than Barnes.
The age difference between Anzalone (31) and Barnes (26) has to be noted. But Anzalone has absolutely been more indepensable to the Lions' defense for a number of years, while Barnes was not noticeably good in the first year of a notable new contract.
It's too soon to make an unequivocal judgment about how the Lions chose to allocate financial resources to the linebacker position last offseason. But they definitely sent a rough message to Anzalone by choosing to pay Barnes instead, and one season in that decision is not looking very good.