If we're all being honest, this isn't exactly what Alex Anzalone was seeking. It's something, the modest raise the Lions gave their four-time captain and starting linebacker, and Anzalone acknowledges that. But it doesn't extend his time in Detroit. It doesn't secure his future. For Anzalone, the present took precedence.
On Wednesday, Lions GM Brad Holmes said the team was happy to reach a "resolution" with Anzalone on his contract after adding another $250,000 in guaranteed money to his $6 million salary this season along with playtime incentives that could increase his total take by $1 million. Anzalone, who's in the final year of his deal, was angling for security in the form of an extension.
He could have held out in an attempt to get what he wanted. He could have reported to camp and held in, like Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals and James Cook of the Bills -- not that Anzalone would have had the same leverage. He could have even requested a trade, like Micah Parsons of the Cowboys or Terry McLaurin of the Commanders.
But Anzalone knows what's at stake for the Lions, the two-time defending NFC North champs who are trying once and for all to go the distance.
"I think at some point you have to start looking at, what kind of teammate do I want to be?" Anzalone said. "You look at some other situations across the league — and it’s different, it’s all relative, there’s different levels — but at the same time, if I wanted to ask for a trade or something like that, that would have happened in the spring. I want to win a Super Bowl, and I’m going to give it my all this year."
Anzalone turns 31 in September. He believes that he's underpaid at his position, which is hard to dispute. As he put it a couple weeks ago, the evidence is "obvious, I think: production, play, the market." He ranks outside the 30 highest-paid linebackers in the NFL, which sells short the way he's performed the past two seasons in the middle of Detroit's defense.
For all the injuries the Lions endured last year, it wasn't until Anzalone broke his forearm that the defense fell off a cliff. He returned in the season finale for what he called a "legacy game" and helped Detroit win the North.
"We value Anzalone highly, all the things that he’s done for us, he’s been a four-time captain for us and all that," Holmes said Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "He’s still a good player, he played well last year, he’s getting a little longer in the tooth, but as far as what we’re seeing right now he’s still performing well. But I was happy we were able to come to some type of resolution for the immediate. And look, I’m sure that Anzalone would tell you that he’s glad that it’s behind him for the immediate, for right now, so he can just go out there, concentrate and play football."
Asked if there's any relief to reworking his deal and putting the matter to rest, Anzalone said, "At least it’s something, right?"
"Just gotta go about your business and now it’s time to play football. Business and football are hard to blend, it’s like oil and vinegar, and sometimes it kind of gets blended up," he said. "But I’m the type of person that’s just like, I'm gonna put my best forward and play the best football I can play. I agreed to it, and moving on."
While it's hard to put a price on this, no defensive player has meant more to the Lions' rise under Holmes and Dan Campbell than Anzalone. He came with Campbell and Aaron Glenn from New Orleans in 2021, one of the first pillars of a roster built from the rubble. Campbell was discussing the team's core this offseason when he singled Anzalone out.
"We’ve been fortunate to stay together here long enough to build this thing with a true foundation of players we were able to draft from the ground up, along with some guys that were here — only a couple, now — when we got here, and we brought in a couple players, particularly a player — Alex — in 2021. That group of players has been here now going on five years, all of us together, so that’s what it’s about, this group, all of us now," Campbell said. "We’ve seen the ups and downs, we’ve been through it."
You can almost hear those words echoing in Anzalone's head as he decided how to proceed with his contract -- all of us together -- and when he took the field for the first time in camp after missing the first several practices with a hamstring injury. All of us now. For the record, Anzalone said he feels great, like he didn't miss any time at all.
"Feel like I could play a game tomorrow. Feel like if it was September 7th, I could play. I don’t know how much I need training camp," he said with a laugh.
The Lions have set a precedent under Holmes for taking care of their own, and not just their young stars. They've also worked out lighter extensions for vets like Taylor Decker, Graham Glasgow and David Montgomery, which at least partly explains why Anzalone said he was "disappointed" that the Lions never seemed to reciprocate his interest in working out an extension. But that's the cold reality in an organization that has drafted exceptionally well.
"You’ve just got a bill to pay," said Holmes.
The Lions are prioritizing their cash and cap space for players like Aidan Hutchinson, Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta, all of whom are slated to be free agents after next season. And at linebacker, the team is ready to turn over its defense to 2023 first-round pick Jack Campbell, who will eventually need a new deal himself, along with Jahmyr Gibbs. It was Dan Campbell who told Jack Campbell entering this season, "This is your defense now."
"We’re in a unique position because we have a lot of young players that we’d like to keep around and fortunately for us, they’ve been very good players, so they’re not going to be the cheapest, either," said Holmes. "That’s the other side of the sword."
Anzalone has played a lot of good football for the Lions, especially in the last two seasons over which time they boast the best record in the NFL at 27-7 -- one game better than the Chiefs, two better than the Eagles. The Chiefs and Eagles have Super Bowls to show for it. The Lions are still gunning for theirs.
The new signs on the streetlights outside Ford Field say Hunting Season. If Anzalone is in the twilight of his time with the Lions, there's only one thing left to do.