Just before last year’s draft, the Lions secured their future by signing both offensive tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to long-term extensions. This year, they’ve decided to do the same, rewarding a first-team All-Pro season by making Kerby Joseph the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Joseph and Detroit have agreed to a four-year, $86MM extension. 
We don’t have any guaranteed numbers on the deal yet to stack against the current top deals in the league, but Joseph’s $86MM in total value is more that Antoine Winfield Jr.‘s $84.1MM. Winfield also held the highest average annual value at $21.03MM per year, which will be eclipsed by Joseph’s $21.5MM per annum.
We knew all the way back when the Lions got eliminated from the playoffs that they would be exploring an extension for their All-Pro safety this offseason. They reiterated those intentions earlier this month, as well, adding that star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson‘s expected extension was also on the docket.
The reason Joseph’s extension likely took priority over Hutchinson’s is because, unlike Hutchinson, Joseph was not a first-round pick. As a first-round selection, Hutchinson’s rookie contract includes a fifth-year option that the team can exercise to extend his obligations to the team for a year longer than the standard four-year rookie deal. Because of this, Hutchinson and the Lions will likely have plenty more time to work out an extension. Joesph, on the other hand, was headed into the final year of his rookie contract.
In just three years of play, Joseph has already established himself as one of the league’s best at the position. Not only did he lead the NFL with nine interceptions in 2024, but he also leads the league in interceptions since he entered the NFL in 2022 with 17. Add in 31 passes defensed and 247 tackles and Joseph has proven that he deserved to be awarded with an All-Pro selection and a record-setting extension this year.
The Lions will hope that securing Joseph will give them the league’s top defensive backfield duo in the NFL for years to come. Today’s extension ensures that Joseph will return alongside Brian Branch next year. Branch, a Pro Bowler last year with seven interceptions and 29 passes defensed in his first two seasons, was drafted in the second round a year after Joseph. Both safeties were ranked as top-five safeties per Pro Football Focus (subscription required) with Joseph notching the position’s highest overall and coverage grades and Branch notching the positions best run defense grade. Branch will likely be a target for extension himself in the next offseason.
For now, though, the Lions will rejoice in their securing of Joseph and the elimination of safety as a position of need in the draft. It was never considered a position that needed improvement, but with Joseph on a long-term deal, there’s no danger of needing to draft a safety to eventually take over for a free agent departure.
Most expensive weapon in the league. Hopefully some of that contract covers health insurance for opposing TEs when their knees explode because the guy doesn’t know how to wrap up when making a tackle…
Sounds like you have a little jealousy in you.lol
Jealous, the guy is dirty AF. He should be out of the NFL.
No kidding. Dirty player. That said… Having X at 16.5 AAV is waaaaay better than the knee hunter at 21 AAV.
I just wish Joseph was out of the division for the sake of the health of the offense.
If he was a Bear you would have his jersey so stop being a fat loser.
lol I am a packers fan. McKinney is better. McKinney contract is better. And McKinney isn’t dirty as hell.
McKinney graded lower, had less interceptions, and got lit up against the Lions.
“Got Lit up against the Lions.”
Ummm. Check your research again, there Sherlock. Teams stopped throwing at him by game 9. Because he was so dominant. 1st team all pro.
As for “Grades.” Who are you referring to? PFF? Massive LOL.
Yeah the knee hunter that apparently hunts balls better than any other safety in the league as well.
Hahaha don’t be such a sissy. Its football not golf!
Detroit is going to run into salary cap problems with the way they’re handing out extensions. It’s going to put them into a situation where they have to go cheap on other positions to pay the stars. Hopefully they have a front office that can navigate the draft and other GM tricks to add to their team. They are fun to watch. All this coming from a Bears fan.
Yep. It’s pretty funny watching their fans think they’re going to be some dominant team for half a decade. As a fan if a team who has had success, drafted frequently in the late 20s, and watched players get expensive and old, resulting in cap problems.
They just don’t realize they’re already in the decline phase of a hard capped league.
Problem for your argument is Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell.
You look at it like a checkers board, from a losing organization.
The first round isn’t where you build it. St Brown, Branch, JOSEPH, LaPorta, all passed by 32 teams. Some multiple times.
Look at the structure of Sewell and St Brown deals, contracts are structured together with bonus money offsetting each other.
The core players are young and the team is declining, sounds like a bitter rival.
Either, that, or the voice of reason from a fan of a team who’s been where you are many many times. Holmes has drafted well. That won’t last. No one’s run does.
The only way to stay competitive every year is hit it out of the park in the draft annually, or your QB to play so darn well it doesn’t matter. Unless Holmes is literally the best GM in decades, he won’t continue his run at this rate. And as for the latter? Goff? LOL. No.
It’s hard to decline when your GM hits in every single draft.
2026 is already going to be a problem that will need a Goff restructure and difficult decisions on Decker and Ragnow.
Finally. A reasonable Lions fan!
You’re a Bears fan, you’re not allowed to comment 😂😂
Try again. Packers fan, mate. 🙂
As a Lions fan, I question this signing just as I did the Goff and McNiel signings last year. Why not let him play out the final seasons to ensure he doesn’t get hurt and the All Pro play continues; worst case you franchise him for a year, instead of commit that much $$ to a guy that had a rough postseason game against a rookie QB … Brad Holmes needs to stop falling in love with his drafted players and clogging the salary cap and use the system the way it’s intended. The Patriots won all them Super Bowls by replenishing players through comp picks for lost free agents, bargain free agents, bold trades, etc. And by never overpaying for the own guys.
I think we need to see the contract first before we say anything. Also, don’t forget the cap increases every year so it might not look that bad at the end of it.
The price goes up each year, so your method sounds dumb. For example, Sewell and St Brown contracts look pretty solid a year later. Markets reset, think about paying St Brown and Sewell this year. It also sends the correct message to your players. Joseph has been on the field and productive you reward that.
If you drafted them, you did for a reason and then playing at the all pro level confirms your beliefs and are drafting well. You sound like a bitter rival or something.
WR and OT extensions are fine. Safety …. not so much. He was second best safety on the team behind Branch. As far as being bitter ? nope, not at all. As a matter of fact I’m a long time lions season ticket holder here. I just don’t want to see this team cap strapped like others have been and not being able to improve. I want a Super Bowl champion …. the window is now ….. not just a competing / average team year in and year out…..Just remember, The Lions have contracts with Branch, Gibbs, Hutch, Jamo, Laporta, Campbell, to deal with over the next year or so. You can’t sign everybody you drafted. By the way, re watch the Washington playoff game and you will see all the missed tackles, botched coverages Kerby had … remember his peers didn’t vote him into the pro bowl, and the only reason he was All Pro was the football writers who vote are enamored with the interception number and not the overall play. Again, 20 mill per season for your number 2 safety is not a good use of the salary cap.
Love Branch, but Kerb was an All Pro who led the league in interceptions, and he was the highest graded safety in the entire league.
It’s also much easier to find a box/slot safety like Branch than it is to find a true ball hawk like Kerby.
Don’t forget there aren’t many other knee hawks like Joseph either.
Second best safety on the team? Him and Ed Reed are the only safeties in NFL history to have 15 incerceptions in their first 3 seasons.
Let us stats are inflated. Remember the Lions blew out a lot of teams last couple years forcing them into throwing the ball more, thus creating more pics for the DBs…
Lol sorry but the Patriots won because of their QB. You know that guy who is the best QB in the history of the NFL? I believe his name is Tom Brady.