Brad Holmes and the Lions believe in rewarding their own. Kerby Joseph is the next in line.
After vaulting from a starter to a first-team All-Pro in his third season, Joseph is up for an extension with the Lions this offseason.
"That's on the docket to be looked at and discussed," Holmes said Thursday at his end-of-season press conference. "We know where he's at from an eligibility (standpoint)."
Joseph, 24, is entering a contract season next year. The Lions would like to lock him up before he reaches free agency, as they did last offseason with Amon-Ra St. Brown and this season with Alim McNeill, two mid-round picks from the 2021 draft. Both players got four-year extensions worth top-of-the-market money at their respective positions.
Joseph, a third-round pick in 2022, is looking at a similar payday.
"Look, he's an All-Pro player," said Holmes. "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. He's another one that's gotten better and better. He's one that has proved he's a Detroit Lion. He fits our culture. It's hard to find ballhawk guys that will tackle how he does. I think that's what makes him unique.
"Again, we haven't had any intense dialogue about that yet, but obviously you want to keep the good players here."
A new deal for Joseph would likely land in the neighborhood of $18 million a year. Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Bucs paces the safety market at $21 million per year, on a four-year, $84 million deal he signed last spring coming off a first-team All-Pro season.
Four-time Pro Bowler Derwin James of the Chargers is next at $19.1 million per year, followed by three-time All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Steelers at $18.4 million per year. Both players signed their extensions entering the final season of their rookie deals. Joseph would be cashing in at the same time.
Other candidates for extensions this offseason include Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams, both of whom are signed through next season with fifth-year options for 2026. The Lions locked up All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell on the same timeline last season, on a deal that will make him the highest-paid player at his position when it kicks in.
If the Lions get something done with Hutchinson this offseason, even in the wake of his season-ending injury, it will almost surely reset the market for defensive ends. Williams would come in much lower relative to other wide receivers, which is why the Lions might be inclined to extend him now.
"We're working through all of that," Holmes said. "Again, it's not always in our control. We might have our plans and processes, but it takes two people to get something done. That's not a negative comment. It's just that you don’t know what that player and their camp, and all that kind of stuff, are thinking. We haven’t gotten to those intense dialogues yet, so that’s the only thing.
"But we have our philosophy, we have our process, and we’ll just see how it goes.”