Pressers and scrums: McNeill up next for extension, but don't talk to him about it

Allen Park — The excitement surrounding the first padded practice was upended a bit when general manager Brad Holmes announced Taylor Decker’s extension during a morning interview with 97.1-FM.

That happened in the first few minutes of practice, which wasn’t ideal timing for getting a story posted. But such is life in this new world of self-publishing. Hopefully the three-paragraph version, written from my phone, sufficed until I could wrap the morning obligations and provide a more thorough recap of the news this afternoon.

With Decker done, the last, obvious candidate for an extension is defensive tackle Alim McNeill. Holmes was asked about that possibility during the same radio hit.

“He’s another one that (coach) Dan (Campbell) and I have talked about,” Holmes said. “He’s part of the foundation. He was part of our first draft, and again, we’ve gotten Penei (Sewell) done, we’ve gotten (Amon-Ra) St. Brown done, and there’s plenty other guys within that draft class that have played key roles. But Alim, the way that he’s developed his game, he does everything right, he’s a total pro and he’s extremely talented. So he’s another one that, it’s about time. So we’ll get talks going at some point and hopefully try to get something done.”

Coincidentally, McNeill met with reporters after practice. Not surprisingly, the topic of his contract status came up, but he emphatically shut down the conversation.

"Honestly, I told my agent not to talk to me about that,” McNeill said. “I'm in training camp right now, so I'm not even thinking about that. I’ve got to play good. I'm worried about winning this year. Whatever happens, happens. But I haven't done any of that."

McNeill is in line for a huge pay bump, and unlike Sewell, St. Brown or even Jared Goff, the Lions are probably going to have to pay a premium for not getting ahead of the curve with a deal. The defensive tackle market blew up this offseason, and, as I have long said with NFL contracts, he who gets paid last gets paid most. See: Jordan Love.

● As team leaders in opposing trenches, both McNeill and center Frank Ragnow are qualified to provide scouting reports on the other big men on the roster. Both were asked about defensive tackles Levi Onwuzurike and Brodric Martin.

With Onwuzurike, McNeill summed up what has been obvious to anyone watching.

"Levi, just looks like he feels a lot better about himself,” McNeill said. “He's completely healthy, just feels really good. And he's just being Levi. That's what Levi always was. He just wanted to make sure he got back to where he was. What I'm seeing from Levi is what we know Levi has. He's really doing his thing. He's doing his thing. I'm very happy for him."

Onwuzurike has been seeing a heavy workload all camp, showing no lingering signs of the back injury that plagued him his first two seasons.

With Martin, everyone is expecting a second-year developmental jump. McNeill said there’s been clear improvement in Martin’s understanding of the scheme. Ragnow, meanwhile, has been getting a more up-close-and-personal look.

“It’s been a fun battle for big Brod,” Ragnow said. “He’s a big, strong, explosive guy and he’s just got to keep pushing every single day. He’s definitely getting better, for sure.”

● There’s been a lot of intrigue with Brian Branch moving to safety, but the other side of the equation is what happens to Ifeatu Melifonwu. Campbell emphasized the competition remains open, which was reflected in the day’s walkthrough lineup where Branch and Melifonwu were the starting safeties and Kerby Joseph was off the field.

“We sort this whole thing out and Iffy is doing what he’s doing and he’s continuing to grow, and we don’t have a nickel that comes to the forefront, well, it could very easily be, ‘Well, Iffy’s your safety and then Branch is back to nickel,’” Campbell said. “So, we have a lot of moving parts here.”

It’s worth noting Melifonwu had a strong practice on Monday.

● In regards to the nickel spot, it was one of the biggest areas of focus for Campbell going into the day.

“I think the DBs are going to be big, especially in our defense, the nickel position and run fits and then our outside corners,” Campbell said. “We like all those guys, but we have a whole new, you know, it is, it’s a whole new stable. …We’ve been able to see some of the cover ability out of them, but what you don’t get is, when (running back) David Montgomery is bearing down on you and he hits the edge, are you going to tackle him? Are you going to be able to slow him down until the cavalry gets there?”

● Campbell said he was also excited to see the running backs, specifically highlighting Jermar Jefferson, who has impressed with how he was performing prior to the pads coming on.