The two words everyone needs to pay attention to when it comes to the Lions’ new edge rusher D.J. Wonnum
It’s not what it looks like with Wonnum
The Detroit Lions finally did it. They signed an edge rusher on Tuesday night when they set former Panthers and Vikings starter D.J. Wonnum up with a one-year deal.
Obviously, Lions fans were hoping to get some big name, and I get that. But Wonnum is a solid addition to the Lions’ defense, who adds a flavor they’ve been trying to get right for a long time. They want that big end, and Marcus Davenport just did not work out. But they still want a guy who is the theory of that. I’d also add that they’re not done at the position. This is a team that brought t eight edges to camp last year. They have four at the moment.
The biggest concern that Lions fans have been showing is with Wonnum’s deal, but there’s something to really pay attention to with that.
The two words everyone needs to pay attention to when it comes to Wonnum’s contract are: “up to”
Wonnum is getting “up to” $6 million. Meaning that he’s not just going to get $6 million from the Lions. He has a chance to earn that if he’s able to hit whatever incentives he needs to hit to make it happen.
A perfect example of this is the guy we just talked about a second ago, Marcus Davenport. Last year, the Lions signed Davenport to a one-year deal worth up to $4.75 million. He needed to hit some incentives to get that deal.
Things like playing time incentives. If Davenport played 40% of the Lions’ snaps in 2025, he got an extra $500,000. If he played 65%, he got a million dollars. He also had sack incentives. If he could hit eight sacks, he’d get $500 thousand. If he had hit 11.5, he would have gotten an extra $1.25 million. He didn’t hit either incentive and didn’t get that money. But that’s what it means to get up to $4.75 million.
We don’t know what Wonnum’s incentives look like, but if you can imagine that they look similar to Davenport’s, that’s $2.125 million in extra money that would add up to that $6 million. So he has to put in the work, or it doesn’t mean anything. It’s “if you scratch our backs, we’ll scratch yours.” That’s all it is.