Lions to pick up the fifth-year option for Jahmyr Gibbs, but dodge bullet by not picking up Jack Campbell’s

One of the biggest questions coming out of the 2026 NFL Draft is what the Detroit Lions will do with the fifth-year options for Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell before the May 1st deadline. Now we have some answers thanks to Fox 2’s Dan Miller. The Lions will pick up the fifth-year option for Jahmyr […]

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, Jahmyr Gibbs from Alabama, Jack Campbell from Iowa, and general manager Brad Holmes pose during the players’ introductory news conference at team headquarters in Allen Park on Friday, April 28, 2023. Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the biggest questions coming out of the 2026 NFL Draft is what the Detroit Lions will do with the fifth-year options for Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell before the May 1st deadline. Now we have some answers thanks to Fox 2’s Dan Miller.

The Lions will pick up the fifth-year option for Jahmyr Gibbs

A well-deserved move for Gibbs, who has been one of the best running backs in the NFL since getting drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. This fifth-year option is for the 2027 season and will cost the Lions $14,293 million. That is fully guaranteed and cannot be restructured. That’s the hit next year.

Now, you should take into account that this is not the Lions pushing Gibbs’ extension down the road or saying “hey, we’ve got two years of control on him, so we don’t need to pay him.” That is unequivocally not what is happening here. It’s very typical for teams to pick up the fifth-year option if it’s affordable and still sign the extension.

So you should still expect a deal that will likely make Gibbs the highest-paid running back in NFL history, likely before the start of the season.

The Lions dodged a bullet by not picking up Jack Campbell’s fifth-year option

If Campbell hadn’t made the Pro Bowl, I would say that he is absolutley someone whose fifth-year option should be picked up. But because he did, his fifth-year option increased from $16 million to almost $21 million. That is all completely guaranteed in 2027, and it all hits the cap.

Now, the same thing goes with what I was talking about, Gibbs, but a little differently. This does not mean the Lions don’t want to pay Campbell. Not one bit at all. You should still expect a potential market-setting deal for the linebacker, likely before the season.

What it does mean is that the Lions can find a way to make that up to Campbell while also having some control over what the cap hits look like going forward. For a team that has said it has financial constraints, this is how you navigate them. Campbell can get his big deal without a $21 million cap hit next year.

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