Dan Campbell: Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown extensions are 'priorities' for Detroit Lions
ORLANDO - The Detroit Lions have discussed contract extensions for quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown this offseason, and Lions coach Dan Campbell said it's important both deals are done before the start of the 2024 season.
"Yeah, those are priorities," Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL's annual meeting. "Those are certainly priorities. I’m not going to get into those, but certainly there’s conversations that are being had.”
The Lions met with St. Brown's agent at the NFL scouting combine to begin negotiations on a deal that would make him one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL.
A fourth-round pick out of USC in 2021, St. Brown has led the Lions in receptions and receiving yards in each of his first three NFL seasons and set career highs with 119 catches, 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns while earning first-team All-Pro honors last year.
St. Brown is due a base salary of $3.366 million this fall in the final year of his rookie deal. He's likely to average $25 million or more per season on his next contract, and could surpass Cooper Kupp ($26.7 million) as the third-highest paid receiver in the NFL.
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Asked Tuesday what makes St. Brown special, Campbell said, "What doesn’t make him special?"
"Everything he does is why he’s who he is," Campbell said. "His work ethic, his desire to be good, his will to overcome. The amount of film that he watches, the pre-practice warmup, the post-practice routine that he has.
"I mean, it’s just everything about him is about being the best player he can possibly be. Being the best player, not (just that) he can be. He wants to be the best, and everything he does, it’s not lip service. Like, he literally does everything he can possibly do to be the best, and that’s why. There’s no secret. Just walk around with him. Why don’t you go live with him for a while if you really want to know what it looks like. Half of the guys will say, ‘Well, I’m going to be great,” and they would go and they would quit Day 2 or Day 3. This guy just keeps going."
Goff, entering his fourth season with the Lions, completed a career-high 67.3% of his passes last season while throwing for 4,575 yards and 30 touchdowns. He finished second in the league in passing and quarterbacked the Lions to their first NFC championship game since 1991.
Goff, who's scheduled to make $27.3 million in the final year of his contract this fall, said in January he hoped to sign a long-term deal to stay with the Lions this offseason.
The Lions have indicated that feeling is mutual, and have had ongoing discussions with Goff's representatives about a new deal that should make him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL.
CBS analyst Boomer Esiason predicted in February that Goff could land an extension in the neighborhood of four years and $200 million. Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts have all signed contract extensions in the past 12 months that average more than $50 million a season, and the Kansas City Chiefs restructured part of Patrick Mahomes' deal to bump his average salary to more than $50 million per season, too.
The Lions also could try and extend the contracts of offensive tackle Penei Sewell and defensive tackle Alim McNeill, too, though McNeill is considered unlikely to sign an extension for now.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions prioritizing extensions for Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown
