What Contract Should Lions Offer Safety DeShon Elliott?
The Detroit Lions have a variety of pressing needs on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, including in the secondary. And, one of the ways in which Brad Holmes & Co. could address the team's defensive woes is by bringing back some of the team's own free agents.
Most certainly, such players will have had to shown their worth this past season, plus must be deemed as culture fits within the Lions' locker room.
One individual who checks off the aforementioned two boxes is safety DeShon Elliott.
Elliott signed a one-year deal with Detroit last offseason, after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Baltimore Ravens.
The 2018 sixth-round pick had a slow start to the 2022 season, and was actually benched by Lions head coach Dan Campbell early in the year. However, Elliott eventually established himself as a leader of Detroit's defensive backfield, and along the way, put up some solid numbers.
"I had to look at myself and say, 'DeShon, you know who you are and you know what you can do,'" Elliott told The Detroit News. "Also, I think schematically, I truly started understanding what (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) wants from me in this defense, and the changes we made to the defense right after the Patriots game, those helped us a lot. Personally, it was me truly buying in on what they wanted me to do and not pressing to make plays and realizing plays would come to me if I just did my job."
Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY Sports
The 25-year-old went on to suit up for 14 games (made 13 starts) with Detroit, and posted some career-best numbers, including 96 total tackles and five tackles for loss. He also contributed an interception, three passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Now, he's set to cash in this offseason. According to Spotrac, he should be able to command a three-year contract, with a $10 million annual salary, on the open market. This comes after he made just $1.1M this past season in Motown.
If I'm the Lions, I'm looking to pay him a little less than that. I'm thinking Holmes can get Elliott locked up for a three-year contract worth $9.75M a season. The contract would be fairly similar to a few of the deals recently signed by safeties with similar statistical lines to Elliott: the Bills' Jordan Poyer (two years, $9.75M a season) and the 49ers' Jimmie Ward (three years, $9.5M a season).
In case you were wondering, both Poyer and Ward will also be unrestricted free agents this offseason.
But, once again, if I'm Holmes, I'm looking to re-up with Elliott for three years and a little less than $10 million a season.
