Out of all of the Detroit Lions contracts on the book, which is the absolute best?
Teams are made or broken by the deals they make. Signings, re-signings, trades, extensions, these are all choices that impact the state of an NFL team in the present and future. One bad move can set you back for years, another can signify the dawn of a new era.
The Detroit Lions are currently in the latter category, with the team under general manager Brad Holmes having made far more savvy roster decisions than regrettable ones. Part of that comes from good drafting, but Holmes’ ability to make good signings is just as important.
As the Lions eye another division crown and playoff berth, which deals stand out on a talented Lions roster?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
What is the best contract on the Detroit Lions right now?
My answer: Jake Bates.
For the sake of discussion, I will not count rookie deals—these are dictated by the NFL, so unless you are the Cincinnati Bengals, most of the rookie contracts are simple enough decisions.
You could make an argument that the Lions’ top salaries—Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell—are among the best decisions that the Lions have made, mainly because they locked up key players for the foreseeable future while getting ahead of the market. At quarterback, the Lions signed Goff to a four-year, $212 million extension, which is a massive bargain in contrast to Trevor Lawrence and his five-year, $275 million contract signed shortly thereafter. St. Brown and Sewell, meanwhile, are top-five players at their respective positions (at worst), yet their contracts rank near receivers like D.K. Metcalf (four years, $132 million) and Brandon Aiyuk (four years, $120 million) and offensive tackles like Christian Darrisaw (four years, $104 million) and Andrew Thomas (five years, $117.5 million), respectively.
However, I would not classify those as steals (yet)—the cash associated with those contracts is simply too large.
Back in March, Jeremy Reisman had a similar discussion about contracts, except he was looking at the best bargain. On a dollars and snaps perspective, his pick of Amik Robertson is certainly up there for the best bargain contract on the Lions. The Lions got a starting-caliber cornerback for under market value—hard to beat that, right? This is where I differentiate between best value contract and best contract in general. Robertson is a good deal, yes, but he is also CB3. The truth of the matter is that if he goes down in 2025, the Lion still have options behind him—he is valuable, but not irreplaceable.
Instead, I want to give the nod to Jake Bates.
In 2024, I don’t believe there was a player with an impact-to-salary ratio as significant as Bates. Signed out of the United Football League after an impressive stint with the Michigan Panthers, Bates overcame some preseason hiccups to put together one of the better kicking seasons in recent Lions history, all on a two-year, $1.98 million deal. Bates’ contract currently ranks 34th in the league by average kicker salary—the Baltimore Ravens have a greater dead cap following the release of Justin Tucker ($2.8 million) than Bates’ entire contract.
There is a key word in that last paragraph that highlights why I think Bates is the best contract on the Lions right now: recent. Since the Lions moved on from Matt Prater as their starting kicking, it was a tumultuous tenure of kicking in Detroit. From Riley Patterson to Austin Seibert to Michael Badgley, the Lions could not find a kicker without a glaring issue and it, frankly, cost them games. Kickers may be cheap, but it is nonetheless a difficult position to replace.
With Bates, not only did the Lions get a dependable, game-winning kicker with a cannon for a leg, they are also paying him pennies in 2025. Sure, a highly-paid kicker is only in the range of $4 million to $6 million per season, which would still be a relatively small part of the Lions’ salary cap. However, considering how much of a train wreck it was to find a kicker after Jason Hanson in 2012 and Matt Prater in 2021, getting Bates in any capacity is a sigh of relief. Getting him for a million dollars? Now that’s a great contract.
Your turn.
