After year and a half of talks, Lions and Decker get across finish line with new, 3-year deal

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions kicked off the second week of training camp by continuing the franchise’s offseason spending spree. In the early minutes of Monday’s practice, general manager Brad Holmes broke news on 97.1-FM that the team had agreed to a three-year contract extension with offensive tackle Taylor Decker.

“Deck has been a key cog of what we’ve been building what we’ve been doing,” Holmes said. “His leadership, his professionalism, he’s a guy that really embraced our culture, so he’s a big part of what we do. It all starts up front with the offensive line, as we all know, so just really, really happy that we were able to get that one done.”

According to multiple reports, the pact is worth up to $60 million with slightly more than half of that amount guaranteed.

There’s often a surge at the end of these negotiations that get them across the finish line, but it was something of a marathon before the sprint. After practice, Decker revealed the two sides had been talking since shortly after the 2022 season.

The updates along the way always seemed positive. There’s little doubt Detroit’s decision-makers love Decker, who started his 100th game for the franchise last season. And he’s made it clear since the franchise selected him in the first round of the 2016 draft, he wanted to spend his career here.

But entering the final year of his current deal, and the pace of securing a new one coming together uncomfortably slow, Decker did something unusual. Instead of leaning on his agent to provide updates on the progress, the veteran lineman went directly to coach Dan Campbell during OTAs, seeking clarity on the situation.

“I was like, ‘Where we at?’” Decker said. “And you know, ‘I hear things from my agent, from our salary cap people, and they’re talking, and I’m getting that kind of second-hand information, I want to hear it. Tell me where we’re at, just so I know. I just want the information so it’s communicated well.’”

Campbell confirmed the plan was to get something done before the start of the season. That was good enough for Decker.

“Pretty much what he told me was to a T what happened,” Decker said. “I just basically had to stay patient. And for me, it was never gonna be, hold out of training camp, ‘Oh, if it comes to the season, we’re not going to play games.’ Like, that’s just not me. I’m going to show up and I’m going to play because that’s what I do and that’s what I’m here to do. So I think it was pretty seamless.”

With the deal done, Decker can enter into his ninth season with a clear mind.

“It's not lost on me on the fact that a lot of guys don't get to spend their whole career with one team,” Decker said. “Hopefully, that's in the cards for me. And from the contract extension, that seems like it's in the cards. I'm very fortunate and I've gotten to have some good luck along the way, but there was also a lot that went into it. Sacrifices from myself and from those around me, so it feels good.

“…You just have to continue to add value,” Decker said. “As you get older, there's going to be an influx of new players every single year that are gunning for your job, or guys you are playing against, and that's something I've really strived to keep myself at a level of play, or get better. I think I'm in my prime. I still think I am. I think I'll be able to play as long as I want to, knock on wood, barring any freak accidents. So I just want to be here. I want to be a part of this team. When you want-to, when you have passion to add value, it makes it a little easier to wake up for workouts in the offseason, whether you're 22 or going to be 31. So, yeah. It's definitely special."