The Detroit Lions are making sure their core stays together — without blowing up their budget. After locking up stars like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell last year, Detroit kept the momentum going this offseason by handing safety Kerby Joseph a massive four-year, $86 million extension in late April.
At first glance, the deal looks enormous. Joseph’s new contract makes him the highest-paid safety in the NFL at $21.5 million per year, something GM Brad Holmes hinted at all the way back in January. But the way the Lions structured the deal has turned it into what ESPN’s Dan Graziano is calling the most team-friendly safety contract in the league.
So what makes it a bargain? Joseph’s extension includes $36.12 million in total guarantees, with just $24.38 million fully guaranteed at signing. Thanks to some creative salary cap gymnastics, his base salaries from 2026-2029 are each under $1.5 million. The Lions added four void years (2030-2033) to spread out cap hits and leaned on option bonuses instead of big base salaries — a move that helps keep cap charges low.
Graziano explained why this is a win for Detroit: “Joseph’s deal seems to fall short of other safeties’ contracts. If the Lions want, they can move on after the 2026 season having paid only the guaranteed money — $24.381 million — and still have plenty of flexibility to extend other stars.”
And that’s crucial, because the Lions have a long list of young players they’ll want to keep in the fold soon: Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Jack Campbell, and Brian Branch are all eligible for extensions in the next 18 months.
While Joseph could earn big money down the road — up to $26 million in 2029 — those future years include minimal guarantees, giving the Lions options if they need to pivot. OverTheCap shows that a post-June 1 cut in 2027 would save Detroit over $7 million on the cap, with minimal dead money left in future years.
Even with a potential $39 million cap hit looming in 2030, the Lions have given themselves plenty of ways to restructure or maneuver as needed.
The bottom line? By structuring Joseph’s contract so cleverly, the Lions have kept their plan to retain their homegrown stars very much alive — and at a price that could look like a steal if Joseph continues to perform.
Lions’ Kerby Joseph Extension Called a ‘Bargain’ Thanks to Team-Friendly Structure
