The Lions are closing in on an extension with All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph.
A day after Lions president Rod Wood reiterated their plans to extend Joseph and Aidan Hutchinson in the near future, Joseph said talks on a new deal are gaining momentum.
"I’ll give y’all an update and say, like, it’s in progress," Joseph told Fox 2 Detroit before throwing out the first pitch at the Tigers-Padres game. "It’s in progress and getting things going. Honestly, man, I’m gonna leave it up to God. I pray every day and it’s all in his hands."
Joseph also reiterated his commitment to the city and the team that drafted him: "I love Detroit, and Detroit loves me."
Joseph led the NFL with nine interceptions last season and leads the league with 17 since the start of his career. He's played in all but two games in three years for the Lions and is eligible for an extension as he enters his contract season. It will cost in the neighborhood of $20 million per year.
GM Brad Holmes has said the Lions intend to lock up Joseph and Hutchinson, which Wood echoed Monday while speaking at the Detroit Economic Club.
"We have a track record of extending our own players, which we’ve done recently with (Penei Sewell) and (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (Alim) McNeill, and I think that Hutch is likely to be coming up soon. We’ve got Kerby Joseph, who’s also due for an extension," said Wood.
The Lions would like to get both Hutchinson and Joseph done this offseason. They extended Sewell and St. Brown ahead of last year's draft and McNeill early last season, securing the three pillars of their 2021 draft class.
2022 is up next.
"We’ve built this great foundation of players and we’ve benefited with many of them being on rookie contracts, and now they’re all becoming second-contract players, which you have to plan for. We’ve been doing that, really, for the last three years, so we’re ready to keep all these guys here for the long haul and keep this foundation in place," said Wood.