Alim McNeill draws contract projection matching spot in 2025 free agent ranking

The Detroit Lions took care of a lot of contract business this offseason, which is the proactive approach to those matters general manager Brad Holmes clearly prefers. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill is entering the final year of his contract, and he seems to be next up for a new deal.

This past week, Holmes said contract talks with McNeill's agent are in the "infancy stages." Coming off a breakthrough season in 2023, McNeill could push his price point way up with a strong season, fully healthy (he missed four games last year) season this year.

The boom in the defensive tackle market this offseason was also notable. 12 defensive tackles now have deals averaging over $20 million per year.

Things could move quickly on a new deal for McNeill, but the price is only going up the more time passes. To the point, as John Maakaron of SI.com invited, the franchise tag could be used on him come March if a deal isn't done. The last time the Lions franchise tagged someone was 2018 (Ezekiel Ansah).

Alim McNeill gets lofty spot in 2025 free agent ranking

Bleacher Report has McNeill No. 4 in their recent ranking of the top 10 2025 NFL free agents heading into the new season. It's fair to assume he won't get what Christian Wilkins and Justin Madubuike got this offseason ($27.5 million and $24.5 million per year respectively), but McNeill might not land too far behind them if he has the kind of 2024 season a lot of people foresee.

Bleacher Report also landed on a contract projection for McNeill: Four years, $90 million.

$22.5 million per year is tied the eighth-highest annual average among defensive tackles right now (with DaRon Payne). Other projections, albeit back in May from AtoZ Sports and Christian Booher of SI.com, have landed at $17 or $18 million per year for McNeill. So B/R seems to be projecting a little more based on what they expect McNeill to produce this season. In a broad sense, double-digit sacks and a Pro Bowl nod is not out of the question.

Those contract projections show the primary thing with the Lions and McNeill coming together on a new contract: timing. The team should theoretically want to get it done sooner rather than later, while the cost is lower. But it would seem to make sense for McNeill to wait and cash in bigger later, with the expectation he'll take another step up in production this year.

In any case, McNeill is lined up for a big season in 2024 and a nice free agent contract next March. The question, even if it's easy to assume they will right now, is if the Lions will pony up to his market value if a deal isn't done in the coming months.