Written by Colton Pouncey, Diana Rossini and Jeff Howe
The Detroit Lions enter the next phase under general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell. No longer mired in a rebuilding process, the team is here to announce its arrival to the postseason. This upcoming season will be the first to be viewed as a Super Bowl contender. The plan is working and the pieces are in place for a competitive future with this position, as long as this position remains in place.
That's what makes this season so great for the Lions. It's the first time they've had a chance to nurture their own local talent, and they wasted no time in doing so. Lions sign wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and deal right tackle Penei Sewell to long-term extensions, league sources said. The athleteWhich makes Detroit's young stars the highest-paid players at their positions.
First up was St. Brown, a former fourth-round pick who is about to work, who signed a $120 million extension with $77 million guaranteed. In terms of average annual value, St. Brown now joins Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the $30 million club, and the deal puts him ahead of Davante Adams ($28 million) and Cooper Kupp ($26.7 million).
With teammates like Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Ja'Marr Chase, Brandon Aiyuk and others set to be extended in the near future, it seems like getting something done with the St. Louis Cardinals. Brown sooner rather than later was a wise decision, as the market continues to boom.
Amon-Ra Saint Brown resides in Detroit 🦁
(via @amonra_stbrown/IG) pic.twitter.com/ggS4p3DAsc
– NFL (@NFL) April 24, 2024
The same can be said for Sewell, who is now the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league with an average annual value of $28 million per year. He signed a four-year, $112 million extension with the team, including $85 million guaranteed. With his new deal, Sewell moves on from Texans tackle Laremy Tunsil ($25 million), the Giants move on from Andrew Thomas ($23.5 million) and the 49ers move on from Trent Williams ($22 million).
Earlier this offseason, Holmes was asked about the possibility of extensions, especially for his young extension-eligible talent.
“You have to be very strategic about how you divide or divvy up that pot,” Holmes said. “But we will be smart, and we will make the right moves.”
Locking up St. Brown and Sewell, two of the league's brightest young stars at their positions, certainly qualifies. It is fair to ask: Where would the Lions be without them?
Think back to the 2021 NFL Draft. By holding the No. 7 pick that year, the Lions could have selected a quarterback. Matthew Stafford had just been traded, the new general manager and coach were hitting the ground running, and Jared Goff's future in Detroit was uncertain. But the Lions focused on Sewell, viewing him as the final piece of what could quickly become one of the best offensive lines in the league.
Sewell — an athletic player from Oregon with all the coveted leadership qualities a team covets — will soon join the rebuilding roster assembled by Holmes. As a team captain, he now leads a team he believes can compete for a Super Bowl title. In just three seasons, Sewell has been named to two Pro Bowls and earned his first All-Pro nomination last season when he was 23 years old. He still looks back at the moment that made him a lion.
“There are clips I see online of that pick when that happened,” Sewell said. The athlete last year. “When I saw him react that way to pick me, I thought, 'Oh, he's on.' If he asks me to swim 200 miles, I'll swim 200 miles. I'll go as far as he wants me to go.”
“We want you in this pride❗️”
Go behind the scenes to welcome calls @peneisewell58 to #OnePride pic.twitter.com/tBB3bpq5Eo
– Detroit Lions (@Lions) April 30, 2021
Think back to the 2021 NFL Draft. In that same draft, there were a lot of calls for the Lions to select a wide receiver in the first round. Black took Sewell instead. Then came the second round. Then the third. As time ticked by, and the Lions still hadn't selected a receiver, even owner Sheila Ford Hamp wondered when it might be time to add more to the room.
“What are we going to do if we don’t draft a receiver out of the draft?” Hamp asked Holmes three years ago about draft weekend.
“You know, we still have the USC kid,” Holmes replied.
The Lions went on to select St. Brown with the 112th pick in the fourth round. He was the 17th receiver selected, and St. Brown can recite all 16 teams that came before him, as well as the ones they went to, by memory. Although it's an oft-cited anecdote, it's part of what makes St. Brown's and the Lions a match made in heaven. Especially at that time.
They were looking for franchise pillars — players who would set the tone for what was to come and instill a losing franchise with a winning mentality. What is clear now is that both Sewell and St. Brown embody what the Lions are all about. They are the perfect success stories of the team's scouting process and how shifts are decided.
“That was very intentional, to find these people who have the intangible assets,” Holmes said. “It's not like, 'Oh, we waited until the fourth round to pick a wide receiver.' No, we wanted St. Brown. He had the intangibles we were looking for to establish our foundation. And look, a lot of these guys are extension eligible now. … It just comes down to what we're building and being very intentional about our intangibles and what we're looking for at the Detroit Lions.
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Since St. Brown's rookie year, the USC product ranks fifth in the NFL in receptions (315) and eighth in receiving yards (3,588). Since 2022, he ranks third in receptions and fifth in receiving yards. He is a two-time Pro Bowler and earned first-team All-Pro honors last season, with 119 receptions for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns. Among players with at least 50 targets last season, St. Brown ranked fourth in first downs per route and fifth in field goal share, according to TruMedia. It's a reliable goal, especially given the amount of work ahead of him, and a model of continuity in the team.
When you match the production with the mentality he brings to the team, it's easy to see why he's valued.
“The things he does every day in practice and every game show up all the time,” Campbell said of St. Brown in January. “And that's the pro and that's why he's the professional. You can write down everything he's going to do and he's going to do it. I can draw on everything — his whole routine that he goes through every day of the week to prepare and then what he's going to look like in the pregame, what he's going to look like in the game, what he's going to look like after the game.” And what he looks like he'll do on his day off. It's the same thing – there's nothing easy about what he does but for him, it's routine and that's why he's a great player. It's the consistency.
Amun Ra Street. Brown 70 yard TD
📺: #Not spoiled On Fox
📱: Broadcasting #NFLPlus https://t.co/X0vcyHUoyR pic.twitter.com/rUyhJjUi0c– NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2024
The Lions have prepared for these extensions. Their cap situation is healthy, as they have made limited long-term deals with outside players. Many of their best players are still on rookie contracts. They have largely structured the draft and value their draft picks believing that their process will lead them to good players more often than not.
If the fit isn't there, the Lions won't force it. That's why they were comfortable waiting for St. Brown in the 2021 draft, and why they're comfortable re-signing him to a big-money extension. And while the Lions will be wary of outside additions spoiling the chemistry they've built, that doesn't mean they'll expand every player on the roster. Holmes said the team doesn't believe in handouts.
We already have proof of that. Tight end TJ Hockenson, cornerback Jeff Okudah and running back D'Andre Swift were previously thought to be building blocks. Holmes traded all three for draft capital after evaluating their fit for the organization.
St. Brown and Sewell aren't the only Lions players who could receive long-term extensions. Defensive tackle Aleem McNeil is entering the final year of his rookie deal. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson will be due big money, possibly as early as next year. Left tackle Taylor Decker is entering the final year of his contract. Naturally, there is an extension for Jared Goff on the horizon.
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He buys
Holmes and company will look to keep their core in place for as long as possible, hoping to win with the group that is here for a reason.
As for who is ultimately part of this essence? This question will be answered financially over the next few seasons.
“Not everyone can play here,” Holmes said. “Not everyone can play for the Detroit Lions, that's just a fact. That's just a standard that's been set.”
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(Photo: Kevin Sabitos/Getty Images)
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