Brad Holmes gives perfectly milquetoast update on Alim McNeill contract talks

After an offseason filled with notable contract extensions-Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Jared Goff and Taylor Decker, defensive tackle Alim McNeill is next on the list for the Detroit Lions. After Decker's new deal was announced near the start of training camp, general manager Brad Holmes declared as much.

"He (McNeill) 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."

As the start of the regular season looms, contract talks can start to fall to the back burner. During his post-training camp news conference Thursday morning, Holmes was asked about where things are with McNeill.

Brad Holmes offers perfectly drab update on Alim McNeill contract talks

"We haven't had anything intense going on from a dialogue standpoint," Holmes said. "But his camp knows that we want to get something done, but it's very in the infancy stages right now."

For his part, McNeill said he told his agent to not even bother him with updates on contract talks until a deal is done. On the idea of if negotiations could get trickier during the season, Holmes hinted at where McNeill's focus is.

"I don’t know if it gets trickier (once the season starts), it’s just that … (McNeill) is just so focused on just playing and that’s it during the season,” Holmes said.

McNeill had a breakthrough season in 2023, with 34 quarterback pressures and five sacks over 13 games-he missed four games late in the regular season with a knee injury. He is line to get paid handsomely in his new deal, as the defensive tackle market rose this offseason. Becoming one of the 10 highest-paid defensive tackles in the league is in play, with $20 million a year not out of the question for the 2021 third-round pick.

The franchise tag if of course in the Lions' pocket if they can't get a multi-year deal done with McNeill. But that would go against how they do business when it comes to rewarding their own, and McNeill is clearly someone they want to reward. Things could go from "infancy stages" to a done deal pretty quickly.