After weeks and weeks of Detroit Lions fans waiting to hear that quarterback Jared Goff and GM Brad Holmes had come to a contract extension deal, it’s finally happened. Now, Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions is the NFL’s second highest-paid player and quarterback.
Jared Goff is the NFL’s Second Highest-Paid Player
Jared Goff has done something no Lions quarterback has done for the franchise in 30 years. He took the Detroit Lions to the NFC Championship game for only the second time in franchise history. He also brought home a NFC North division title. With Goff’s contract ending after the upcoming season, everyone has been waiting with baited breath for news of a contract extension.
It seemed inevitable. But, fans got nervous when they saw Holmes making big deals with other Lions players and not Goff. For example, they recently inked Amon-Ra St. Brown to a four-year, $120 million extension and signed Penei Sewell to a four-year, $112 million extension.
That said, the stakes were high with Goff, so it’s not a surprise that re-signing Goff would take longer than the other players. He’s more than proved himself in Detroit and was expected to become one of the highest-paid players and quarterbacks of all time. Both parties had a lot on the line. Now, they’ve finally come to an agreement.
ESPN is reporting that the Detroit Lions have inked the quarterback to a four-year, $212 million contract extension. NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero also reported the news. According to Adam Schefter, the contract boasts $170 million guaranteed and makes Goff the highest-paid player in Lions’ history.
Under the new deal, Goff will make an average annual salary of $53 million. That makes him the second highest-paid player and quarterback in the league, behind Joe Burrow, who averages $55 million a year as the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Goff the No. 1 draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He moved to Detroit from the Los Angeles Rams and started with the Lions during the 2021 season in a trade for then-Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Goff and the Lions beat Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in a massive playoff game last season at Ford Field, by the way.
What the Jared Goff Contract Extension Means
Goff knows that being in Detroit comes with responsibility.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Goff told ESPN in April. “The expectations are high, but internally, our standards are raising, and our expectations are raising, and we’ve got goals and things we want to do. It’s not like we’re (going to) show up and start winning again.”
One thing this move finally settles is the idea that Goff was brought on as a “bridge” quarterback, where he would be with the team for a few seasons while they looked around for a franchise quarterback. Both Holmes and Lions head coach Dan Campbell have always insisted that was not true, but it didn’t stop fans from keeping those rumors out there. If anything says “franchise quarterback,” it’s this deal. Goff is now the second highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, and that means Detroit is obviously serious about him being the face of the brand for years to come.