For a solid stretch of the 2023 pre-draft process, Brian Branch looked like a sure-fire first-round pick. But due to reasons that have nothing to do with football (he's smallish, he ran a slow 40 at the NFL Combine) he fell to the second round and the Detroit Lions gladly traded up to get him at pick No. 45.
Playing mostly as the Lions' slot corner as a rookie last season, Branch was a playmaker (74 total tackles, three interceptions, seven tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups, one forced fumble).
The reinforcements the Lions added at cornerback this offseason fostered moving Branch to safety on a regular basis. He still lines up all over, but the strongest percentage of the time he's lined up as a free safety. The prevailing theory coming into the season is playing safety would allow Branch to be even more of a playmaker.
Branch entered Week 7 as Pro Football Focus' No.1-graded safety in the league, with top-three grades at the position in coverage, run defense and as a pass rusher.
Brian Branch is a remarkable steal and bargain for the Lions (at least for now)
After he had two interceptions in Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys, Branch made a fantastic interception against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
🅱️🅱️🆙#DETvsMIN | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/MQJgAvUED3
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 20, 2024
Branch now has four interceptions this season, with two more pass breakups on Sunday as of this writing to push his season total there to 11. He also missed a game-plus due to a concussion then an illness.
In line with his fall into the second round of the 2023 draft, Branch is also a remarkable contract bargain for the Lions. He's of course in the second year of a four-year rookie contact, with a $1.1 million base salary and a $1.8 million cap number this year. In 2025, those numbers "jump" to $1.38 million and $2.18 million respectively and in 2026 he's currently got a $1.74 million base salary and a $2.55 million cap hit.
Of course if Branch keeps performing at the level he is, he will become one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL with his second contract. The current top of that market is Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at $21 million per year, followed by four others with deals averaging at least $16 million per year.
Branch is on the list of remaining players the Lions have drafted who will command big money to keep when it comes time for a second contract. But that's a little ways off, so right now the rest of the league can shake their heads at the mistake they made in the 2023 draft while the Lions enjoy the all-around steal that fell into their laps.