Jack Campbell making his first Pro Bowl just made him the Lions’ extremely important top extension priority, here’s why
The Lions need to get out in front of things with Campbell before he gets too expensive.
The Detroit Lions’ 2025 season is pretty much over, and along with that comes the end of the third season for Jack Campbell, Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch, and Sam LaPorta. They can now negotiate extensions with the Lions. They should all be expected to receive them as well. But something big happened on Tuesday that made one of these guys the priority.
Jack Campbell made his first Pro Bowl, putting him at the front of the line for extensions
You might think that Gibbs should be the Lions’ top priority, and you would be correct. He is a game-changer in every sense of the word. LaPorta and Branch are huge, too, and you see that now that they’re out with injuries.
This isn’t about who’s more important or who you need to keep more of. This is a dollars-and-cents thing, and Campbell making his first Pro Bowl on Tuesday had a significant impact on the dollars and cents he’s going to get paid if the Lions pick up his fifth-year option.
That is an insane jump for the Lions to make. That option is all cash in 2027, and it slaps a big cap hit on the Lions that year. He becomes more expensive than Gibbs, who we can all agree is the big impact player of the four. It’s because Campbell, as a linebacker, is grouped with the edge rushers, a much more expensive position. It’s dumb that the NFL does it this way, but this is what it is.
For those reasons, the Lions’ best move is to avoid that option. Just don’t give it to him; move him to the front of the line and sign him to a big extension where you can still get some guaranteed money attached to it and make it up to him there.
That’s how the Lions have been doing all their deals lately. They bring the guaranteed money up front to lower the cap hit early. Campbell still receives that money, but he won’t it in a way that affects the salary cap.
A good deal for Campbell might be a five-year, $100 million agreement with up to $72 million fully guaranteed, which is paid up front. That allows the Lions to still pay him approximately $10 million per year for the next two years and keep his cap hit low. This is how the Lions did it with Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Kerby Joseph. They could even include void years and spread payments out further if the actual contract is shorter than five years.
That’s why you have to lock him down now to make sure he’s not putting you between a rock and a hard place with a giant cap hit and then an extension right after it.
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