Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions almost never use the NFL’s franchise tag. In their team history, they’ve only used it five times since the franchise tag was introduced in 1993, and the last player to fetch it was Ezekiel Ansah back in 2018. But one expert believes it may be on the table for the Lions next year.
First, a quick explanation of the franchise tag for those who need a refresher. The franchise tag is an option for teams to keep a player that is potentially facing free agency. In short, if a player receives a franchise tag, the team is placing a one-year tender worth the average of the five highest salaries at that player’s position. The player can then either:
Former NFL agent and current salary cap analyst Joel Corry published a post this week looking ahead to the 2027 franchise tag candidates, and he listed Lions tight end Sam LaPorta as one of the players who could get the designation. That said, Corry admitted that this current Lions regime is usually proactive enough to avoid such situations.
“The Lions are among the NFL’s most proactive teams at locking up core players before the expiration of rookie contracts,” Corry wrote. “This philosophy could work to LaPorta’s advantage.”
Earlier this offseason, Lions general manager Brad Holmes openly admitted he has an interest in signing the team’s first four picks in the 2023 NFL Draft—Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, LaPorta, and Brian Branch—to extensions.
“Those are all players that we feel are core players that we want to keep around. They’re part of our foundation,” Holmes said at the NFL Combine.
Thus far, only Campbell has received an extension. And as much as the Lions want to keep all four around, their tightening salary cap situation may make the budget balancing a little more difficult. On top of that, LaPorta’s back injury could further complicate Detroit’s willingness to commit to the Pro Bowl tight end long term.
This offseason, the tight end market was set by Kyle Pitts, who inked a three-year, $53 million extension with the Falcons. However, 49ers’ George Kittle still owns the highest contract by average per year with a four-year, $76.4 million ($19.1M average) deal he signed in 2025.
We could be a long way from finding out how the Lions will approach LaPorta’s future (and Branch’s, too), but you better believe it’s something the front office is already thinking about.
Let’s move on with the rest of today’s Notes:
