Monday morning brought news of another contract extension for the Detroit Lions, as left tackle Taylor Decker is now under contract through 2027 via (per his agent) a three-year, $60 million deal with $31.83 million guaranteed.
Entering the final year of his contract, and making it clear he wanted to be a "Lion for life", Decker was easily next up for a contract extension after the Lions gave sizeable new contracts to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell and Jared Goff this offseason. But there's another obvious extension candidate that can't be ignored and is now on the front burner.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes announced the Decker contract news on 97.1 The Ticket Monday morning. He was quickly asked about defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who is coming of a breakthrough season in 2023 and is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Brad Holmes acknowledges it's time to get a deal done with Alim McNeill
Holmes response to the question about McNeill was right to the point.
"Yeah, he’s another one that Dan (Campbell) and I have talked about," Holmes said. "He’s part of the foundation."
"He was part of our first draft, and again, we’ve gotten Penei done, we’ve gotten St. Brown done, and there’s plenty other guys within that draft class that have played key roles. But Alim, the way that he’s developed his game, he does everything right, he’s a total pro and he’s extremely talented. So he’s another one that, it’s about time. So we’ll get talks going at some point and hopefully try to get something done."
McNeill was pretty mum about a looming contract extension during OTAs, as expected, leaning into the idea if took care of business it would take care of itself. Ben Raven of MLive got similar sentiment on Monday when he asked McNeill about Holmes' comments.
Alim McNeill full quote -- "Honestly, I told my agent not to talk to me about that. I'm in training camp right now, so I'm not even thinking about that. I got to play good. I'm worried about winning this year. Whatever happens, happens. But I haven't done any of that."
— Ben Raven (@BenjaminSRaven) July 29, 2024
The defensive tackle market had a boom this offseason, which lines McNeill up to get paid very handsomely if he takes another step this year. There are 13 defensive tackles currently making over $20 million per year, and 20 make more than $15 million per year. So the Lions might want to get a new deal done sooner rather than later, and Holmes realizes as much.