The Detroit Lions exercised the fifth-year option on the rookie contract for running back Jahmyr Gibbs on Tuesday, April 28, but they won’t be picking up the option for linebacker Jack Campbell, a person familiar with the decision confirmed to the Free Press.
Fox-2 first reported the news.
Gibbs will make about $14.29 million on his 2027 option, according to OverTheCap.com, while Campbell’s option, worth an estimated $21.925 million, was too expensive given the market value of the off-ball linebacker position.
Lions president Rod Wood explained the dilemma the Lions faced with Campbell in an interview with the Free Press at last month’s annual meeting. At a salary of $21.93 million, Campbell would have surpassed Fred Warner as the highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the NFL.
“Jack’s situation is unique because his fifth-year option and franchise tags get outrageous with him making the Pro Bowl, and linebackers are linebackers,” Wood said. “So that factors into how you want to approach his. And Jahmyr is unique in that he’s just such a dynamic offensive player that you want to make sure you a, keep him and b, do it in a way that’s financially smart.”
The Lions have been up front about their desire to strike new deals with Gibbs and Campbell, their first two picks of the 2023 NFL Draft, as well as Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch, second-round choices the same year.
Wood said the team does not need to see LaPorta and Branch play in games in their return from injuries before finalizing deals, and he and general manager Brad Holmes have acknowledged their desire to sign all four players to long-term extensions.
“The plan is now to try and keep all these guys that we’ve drafted,” Wood said.
Holmes declined to say what the team intended to do with the fifth-year options when asked after last week’s draft.
But the Lions’ decision with Campbell highlights the dilemma of using a premium draft pick on a non-premium position.
Campbell, the 18th pick of the 2023 draft, has developed into one of the best linebackers in the NFL. He finished second in the league with 176 tackles last year to earn first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career, added five sacks, forced three fumbles and had two fumble recoveries.
He wears the team’s green dot defensive communication helmet as the leader of the Lions’ defense.
And the team wants to sign him to a long-term deal.
“This is Jack Campbell’s defense,” Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said this offseason. “And I don’t hesitate when I say that. This is Jack Campbell’s defense and everybody in that locker room knows it, point blank, period. It all goes through Jack.”
But the cost of option years are determined by the position players play, their play time and the number of Pro Bowls they’ve been selected for. As an off-ball linebacker, Campbell is lumped into the same position group as his higher-paid edge-rushing peers.
Campbell’s option for 2027 projected to be the third-highest of any player in the 2023 draft, behind wide receiver Zay Flowers ($27.3 million) and defensive tackle Jalen Carter ($27.127 million), according to OverTheCap. The Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles already have exercised the options on Flowers and Carter, respectively.
Had the Lions exercised the fifth-year option on Campbell’s contract, they would have set the stage for him to receive a long-term deal that’s worth substantially more than the three-year, $63 million extension Warner signed with the San Francisco 49ers last spring.
It’s a situation the Baltimore Ravens found themselves in two years ago with center Tyler Linderbaum. Similar to linebackers, all offensive linemen are lumped into the same position category, and Linderbaum’s option would have factored into account the higher salaries of offensive tackles.
The Ravens declined Linderbaum’s option, and when they failed to strike a long-term deal with the center, he became an unrestricted free agent this spring.
In March, Linderbaum signed a three-year, $81 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders that made him the highest-paid center in NFL history. At $27 million annually, Linberbaum’s deal is worth substantially more than Creed Humphrey’s average annual value of $18 million per season.
If the Lions don’t sign Campbell to a long-term extension this offseason, Campbell can become an unrestricted free agent after next year if the Lions don’t use an inflated franchise tag – again, based off the salary of edge-rushing linebackers – to restrict his movement.
As for Gibbs, the running back has emerged as one of the NFL’s most dynamic weapons three years after the Lions made him the surprise 12th pick of the 2023 draft.
He has 3,580 yards rushing, 1,449 yards receiving and 49 touchdowns in his career, the most by any player in their first three seasons in NFL history, and he’s been selected to three straight Pro Bowls.
Gibbs opened his career splitting carries with David Montgomery, before shouldering a lead-back role last season. The Lions traded Montgomery to the Houston Texans this offseason and signed Isiah Pacheco to be Gibbs’ backup.
Gibbs is expected to rank among the NFL’s highest-paid running backs whenever he signs an extension.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Detroit Lions won’t exercise 5th year option on Jack Campbell