Predicting Taylor Decker's Contract Extension

Taylor Decker, entering his ninth NFL season in 2024, has grown into one of the game's very best left tackles.

In his role with the Lions, Decker serves as the blindside protector of signal-caller Jared Goff. It's an ultra important job that sees the veteran lineman responsible for keeping Goff upright and clean in the pocket on a weekly basis.

Far from an easy task, Decker has been up for the challenge more often than not.

Since 2018, the 6-foot-7, 318-pounder has posted a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of 76.3 or better each season. And, in that same time span, he's allowed more than five sacks in a season just twice (2019 and last year).

As for this past season, the 30-year-old was extremely proficient. He logged a career-high 1,243 snaps (counting Detroit's three postseason games), and produced a 79.4 pass-blocking grade (the 14th-best mark among all qualified tackles). For his overall efforts, he earned an 81.1 grade from PFF – his highest overall mark since 2020 – and the ninth-best overall grade among all qualified tackles in 2023.

While not as effective of a run-blocker, he also posted a 73.9 PFF run-blocking mark in ‘23 (his second-best run-blocking grade as a pro). Plus, he played a vital role in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs amassing a combined 1,960 yards on the ground this past season.

In 2024, the ninth-year pro is set to enter the final season of a five-year, $59.65 million contract extension he signed with Detroit in September 2020. 

From all accounts, the 2016 first-round pick is open to staying in the Motor City.

“Kind of entry-level conversations, base-level conversations,” Decker said in April, regarding his contract extension talks with the Lions. “I think my agent and the Lions are on the same page, so it’s very much an amicable conversation so far. But, super early stages, nothing of substance really other than, ‘Okay, we’re going to try to figure something out, whether it’s multiple years or it’s not.’”

For this past season, Over the Cap – a go-to website for all things NFL contract and salary cap related – gave Decker a “contract valuation” of $8,577,000. This figure was calculated by measuring Decker's performance and yearly salary in relation to the rest of the league's left tackles.

As of today, the total value of Decker's contract ranks eighth among left tackles. Meanwhile, the average annual value of his contract ($14,912,500) places him 12th at the position.

I think Decker, as part of his next contract, will want to become one of the top-10 highest paid left tackles in the league (on an AAV basis). The Cincinnati Bengals’ Orlando Brown Jr. is currently the 10th-highest paid left tackle, with an average annual salary of $16,023,000. 

Yes, Decker will be 32 years of age going into the start of the 2025 season, which could work against him in his negotiations with Detroit. However, on a short-term deal (which I think he and his agent will aim for), it won't be nearly as big of a factor. And, I think the Lions will ultimately give in to satisfy the big man and ensure he retires as a member of the organization.

At this present juncture, I'm going to predict that Decker inks a two-year, $33 million contract extension with Detroit.