The Detroit Lions have ended Jahmyr Gibbs’ hold-in with a monster extension that resets the market at running back.
Just two days after Bijan Robinson briefly claimed the title of highest-paid back in NFL history, Gibbs and the Lions reached a deal that tops it. The agreement is initially a three-year, $67.5 million contract and could climb to $75.75 million, with $51.5 million in guarantees. Those first figures can sometimes get inflated, but the bottom line is clear: Gibbs is now the highest-paid running back in the league.
For Detroit, this is the latest major commitment to the 2023 draft class. Gibbs was the 12th overall pick that year, and he’s now the second player from that group to land a second contract with the team. Earlier this offseason, the Lions gave linebacker Jack Campbell a four-year, $81 million extension that pushed him into the top tier at his position.
The money matches the role Gibbs has carved out in this offense. Over his first three seasons, he has averaged 1,745 scrimmage yards a year, piled up 49 touchdowns and churned out 5.3 yards per carry. Among players with at least 200 carries since he entered the league in 2023, Gibbs ranks seventh in rushing yards with 3,580, third in scrimmage yards with 5,029, second in yards per carry, second in rushing touchdowns with 39 and first in total touchdowns with 49.
That production came while he shared work with David Montgomery. Now Montgomery is with the Texans, and the plan in Detroit is to lean even harder on Gibbs. Coach Dan Campbell made that clear in June.
“He’s going to be our bell cow now,” coach Dan Campbell said in June. “He really became more of that last year, but we’re going to hang our hat on him quite a bit. We’re going to do a lot of things we feel like he does well.
“Now, I’ve mentioned this before. He can run everything that we’ve got.
He can run every scheme that anybody’s ever run. He’s not just an outside runner.
He is not just a space runner. He can create his own space in the middle.
And some of his biggest runs have been gap scheme right down the pipe, where he’s had patience, and found it, and guys blocked it up well. So, we’re going to ask a lot of him.”
With Gibbs and Campbell now secured, Detroit’s attention turns to two more members of that 2023 class: tight end Sam LaPorta and safety Brian Branch. General manager Brad Holmes has already said publicly that he wants to get deals done for both. Campbell added that Branch’s recovery from a torn Achilles may matter before the team moves forward on an extension.
“I think you always want to know that your guys are healthy and this is truly healed,” Campbell said. “You are always going to kind of want to lean that way knowing the investment that would go into that.”
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