Lions focused on extending Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown

Lions coach Dan Campbell said the team is focused on extending Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown with new contracts to keep them in Detroit

The best part of hitting on trades, free agents, and draft picks is you get to see a roster build and develop into its full potential. The downfall is everyone needs to be paid at some point to keep the roster together. For the Lions, they are coming up to offer some extensions to keep key players in place.

According to head coach Dan Campbell, the team is prioritizing extensions for Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Campbell told reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings, “Yeah, those are priorities, those are certainly priorities. I’m not going to get into those, but certainly, some conversations are being had.”

The Lions have started discussions with St. Brown, who has expressed how happy he is in Detroit. Jared Goff has also said he is looking for a long-term extension to remain in Moto City. Both men have become faces of the franchise and are major keys to the team’s historic turnaround.

Several Lions reap contract rewards on the 5th day of the league year

Several Detroit Lions reap contract rewards on the 5th day of the league year as written into their deals

The fifth day of the new NFL league year is always a busy one for contracts. Many contracts are written in with stipulations and contingencies that kick in on the fifth day, which happens to be Monday, March 18th this year.

Detroit had a few contract options kick in on Monday. Most notable is a $5 million roster bonus paid to quarterback Jared Goff. This was set in the contract; it’s not any new or unexpected monies going to Goff.

Another $500,000 went to left tackle Taylor Decker as a roster bonus. Technically, Decker’s bonus was on the third day of the new league year.

Two other players had their 2024 salaries guaranteed as well. Running back David Montgomery and freshly acquired cornerback Carlton Davis now have fully guaranteed salaries in 2024. Note that the recently reported reworking of Davis’ contract might alter that; we don’t yet have the exact details of the new contract.

All contract info provided by Spotrac.

Pros and cons of a Jared Goff contract extension

Pros and cons of a Jared Goff contract extension for the Detroit Lions in the 2024 offseason

Extending a player in the NFL or any professional sports league is one of the harder, more refined skills a general manager can possess.

Brad Holmes ever since he took over as general manager of the Lions has shown to be among the top tier of decision-makers in the NFL. What he hasn’t had to do yet is the hardest thing for a general manager, negotiating a quarterback contract extension.

Jared Goff had some growing pains during his first year in Detroit. Since then he has seen decent improvement thanks to the help of play caller Ben Johnson.

Holmes has built the offense around Goff by signing David Montgomery and drafting the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Jameson Williams, and Jahmyr Gibbs.

That last part however may be why this gets extra tricky. Let’s break this deal down by each unique problem it presents as well as the benefits.

Jared Goff thrived when under center and the Lions played to his strength

Lions QB Jared Goff was better under center than in the shotgun and Detroit’s offense played to that strength

Fans of a certain vintage might recall when quarterbacks were nearly always taking snaps under center. The shotgun formation was a novelty instead of the norm.

In today’s NFL, over 83 percent of all offensive snaps come with the quarterback in some form of shotgun formation. Some quarterbacks, notably Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow, take over 95 percent of their snaps in the shotgun.

That’s not what Jared Goff does. The Lions quarterback is comfortable working under center, and the offensive scheme plays to Goff’s ability. Goff was one of just two NFL quarterbacks who was not in the shotgun on at least 75 percent of snaps in 2023.

Goff and the Lions operated in the gun just 74.1 percent of the time. Only Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, a similar type of pocket/play-action passer, was under center for a higher percentage than Goff.

Goff was statistically better when under center than in the gun, too. While there was little difference in the completion percentage, Goff averaged 2.0 yards per attempt (9.0 to 7.0) and over 2.6 more air yards per attempt from under center (9.58 to 6.97). He also had a lower sack rate (8 percent to 5.5) and lower INT rate (1.9 percent to 3.3 percent) when under center.

Not every offense can operate with such a high frequency of playing under center, and not every quarterback is comfortable doing it, either. Goff’s percentage of snaps under center rather than in the shotgun has increased in each of his three seasons in Detroit, a sign that coordinator Ben Johnson and coach Dan Campbell are further tailoring the offense to fit what Goff does well.

All data is from SIS and Pro Football Reference

Lions ranked among top three teams for 2024

The Lions rank among top teams for 2024

The Detroit Lions came as close as ever this season to making their first Super Bowl. Coach Dan Campbell said in the aftermath of the NFC title game loss to the 49ers that it is very unlikely this team makes it this far again based on how this league goes about things. After some critical personnel decided to stay in Detroit, and with their salary cap situation looking more positive than ever, perhaps Campbell was a tad critical.

In the wake of the Chiefs’ second straight Super Bowl win, the “NFL on Fox Podcast” discussed this week who the top teams are heading into the new season. They mentioned the Chiefs and 49ers at the top, which makes sense, but they threw in the Lions as their third-best team.

Campbell has shown he can be one of the best coaches in the league and can build a more-than-capable staff. Both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn could have left for head coaching jobs elsewhere but instead decided to stay in the Motor City to build something special.

Quarterback Jared Goff is returning for his fourth year with the team. The offense looks to be ready to keep growing, led by running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The defense, led by edge rusher Aidan Hutchison, is taking the necessary steps to get better.

With the right offseason moves by GM Brad Holmes, this team could easily jump past the 49ers in terms of expectations for next season.

All 32 NFL QBs (including Panthers’ Bryce Young) ranked by passer rating for the 2023 regular season

32 starting QBs ranked by their 2023 passer ratings

Well, let’s just look back at this like a “Started from the bottom, now we here” meme by next year, shall we?

Here are all 32 NFL quarterbacks, including Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers, ranked by passer rating from the 2023 season:

Frank Ragnow and Jared Goff pull out of the Pro Bowl

Lions standouts Frank Ragnow and Jared Goff pull out of the Pro Bowl Games

There will be a little less Detroit Lions flavor in the upcoming Pro Bowl Games. Even after adding two Lions players this week, two others have opted not to participate.

Quarterback Jared Goff informed the NFL that he’s not going to attend the revamped event, which no longer features an actual football exhibition game. He was selected to the Pro Bowl, his fourth, earlier in the offseason.

Center Frank Ragnow also pulled out from the Pro Bowl, as expected. Ragnow finished the Lions’ postseason run with four separate injuries, so it makes perfect sense for him to want to not stress the toe, knee, ankle or back in the all-star environment.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson staying with Detroit

Ben Johnson informed NFL clubs he is sticking around with the Lions for another season.

There was quite a bit of buzz going into this offseason about one of the best offensive minds in the league in Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson being available for head coaching duties. Today he may have squashed the dreams of multiple teams as he informed NFL clubs he will be sticking around in Detroit to run it back for the 2024 season.

Johnson has been one of the big reasons for an offensive revive in Detroit and has helped revive a somewhat stalled career of quarterback Jared Goff. Detroit was the third best scoring offense in the league and pushed themselves all the way to the NFC Championship game where they hung 31 points on one of the league’s best defenses in a losing effort.

With a bright future ahead of him and free Detroit pizzas for life, Johnson is going to remain one of the best in the business for the foreseeable future. With a championship ring just within reach for the Lions and company, Ben Johnson could be the thing that keeps them stable enough to be in the big game next year. Either way Johnson should end up as a head coach eventually, and will continue to build upon his impressive coaching resume.

Why Lions OC Ben Johnson staying put could shake up the whole NFC in 2024

The Detroit Lions got a huge bit of great news when OC Ben Johnson decided to stay put. That’s bad news for the rest of the NFL.

The Detroit Lions, who saw their 2023 season end in heartbreaking fashion with a 34-31 divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers in which they led 24+7 at the end of the first half, got some very good news to cool that particular burn.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who has been of serious interest as a head coach for multiple NFL teams over the last two seasons, is staying put.

In 2023, the Lions ranked fifth in the NFL in Offensive DVOA (seventh passing, fourth rushing), up from seventh overall in 2022, and 29th in 2021. Johnson took over in 2022, so that tells you a lot.

Under Johnson in 2023, quarterback Jared Goff had his best season to date, completing 484 of 786 passes for a league-high 5,411 yards, 34 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a passer rating of 98.7. Running backs David Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 2,287 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns on 469 carries. Rookie tight end Sam LaPorta caught 107 passes on 147 targets for 1,065 yards and 11 touchdowns, and the receiver corps of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, and the two backs as pass-catchers were as dynamic as any group in the league at times.

Factor in an offensive line that may have the NFL’s best right tackle in Penei Sewell and the NFL’s best center in Frank Ragnow, and it’s easy to see why Johnson wanted to come back for one more season and maybe win a Super Bowl this time around.

The Lions’ offense has been a fascinating study all season long, and here are some of the hallmarks that Johnson and his guys can expand on when next season comes around.