Bold 2026 Detroit Lions Prediction Comes With 'Cautionary Tale'

The Detroit Lions are expected to offer a handful of their own free agents new, lucrative contract extensions.

Among them is running back Jahmyr Gibbs. General manager Brad Holmes could make Gibbs the highest-paid player at his position.

Early predictions have the former first-round pick securing a multi-year contract with an average annual value of $20-22 million.

Sports Illustrated recently created a list of bold predictions for each NFL team.

For the Lions, NFL writer Conor Orr has Holmes making that decision to pay Gibbs and even paying him more than Saquon Barkley.

Orr writes, "The Lions will make Jahmyr Gibbs the highest-paid running back in NFL history, setting records in every meaningful contractual category. Bold? No. But Brad Holmes was with the Rams when the franchise bucked trends and signed Todd Gurley to a top-of-market extension. While this ultimately was a cautionary tale, the Lions’ offense won’t function as designed without the former first-round pick. 

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Rams signed Todd Gurley to record contract, cut him two years later

Holmes was in Los Angeles in 2018 when running back Todd Gurley secured a four-year, $60 million extension that included $45 million in guarantees. At the time, it was the riches contract offered to a player at his position.

Less than two years later, Gurley was struggling to recover from a knee injury and ended up being released.

There has been a significant amount of debate among pundits regarding if team's should pay running backs a significant amount of money, given how often they do break down.

ESPN explained, "They wanted to reward Gurley, who over the span of three seasons had earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, NFL Offensive Player of the Year and had established himself as a dependable star after the team relocated to a city full of them.

"The irony in cutting Gurley after his fifth season, however, is that the Rams could have allowed him to play out his rookie contract before letting him depart for free agency. Instead, they paid him an extra $22.6 million. Now the Rams must ask themselves if signing Gurley to an extension was a good move."

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