Detroit Lions sign Kerby Joseph to new contract as highest-paid safety ever

Kerby Joseph has more interceptions than anyone in the NFL since he entered the league in 2022, and on Wednesday, the Detroit Lions rewarded him for his work.

The Lions made Joseph the highest-paid safety in NFL history, agreeing to a four-year, $86 million extension that ties Joseph to the team through 2029. Louis Bing, Joseph’s agent, said the deal will be signed Thursday.

While full details of the contract are not yet known, Joseph’s extension carries an average annual value of $21.5 million, slightly more than Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who signed a four-year, $84.1 million deal ($21.025 million per season) in May 2024.

Joseph had a career-high and league-leading nine interceptions last season and four picks in each of his first two years. He was snubbed from the Pro Bowl in 2024, but was named first-team All-Pro.

“I don’t know how you don’t make the Pro Bowl with nine interceptions, whatever that is, but he’s an All-Pro player and he’s been — he’s another one that’s gotten better and better,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said after the season. “So he’s one that has proven that he’s a Detroit Lion, he fits our culture. It’s hard to find ballhawk guys that will tackle like how he does, and I think that’s what makes him unique.”

A third-round pick out of Illinois in 2022, Joseph joins a long list of homegrown talent the Lions are in the process of signing to long-term contract extensions.

Last year, the Lions signed 2021 draft picks Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Alim McNeill, plus offensive stars Jared Goff and David Montgomery, to multi-year extensions, and the team is currently in talks with 2022 first-round pick Aidan Hutchinson about a new deal that could make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

St. Brown and Sewell signed their deals last April, on the day before the NFL draft in Detroit. The Lions finalized Joseph’s deal Wednesday evening, just over 24 hours before this year’s draft.

Next year, 2023 draft picks Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta will be extension-eligible for the first time.