It's funny. Romeo and Julian Okwara played football at the same high school. They played football at the same college. But it wasn't until Julian reached the NFL last season that they ever played on the same team.
They enjoyed it so much that Romeo didn't bother exploring the free agency market this offseason after finishing 10th in the NFL in sacks. He re-signed as quickly as he could with the Lions so that he could keep playing alongside Julian.
"For me, it was a pretty simple decision," Okwara said Wednesday. "Being able to play with my brother and continue the vision we have and what we want to get done in the city of Detroit, that was very important to me. So it was kind of a no-brainer for me and I was able to get something done pretty quickly."
Okwara agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal with the Lions almost as soon as the legal negotiating window opened on Monday. Not exactly chump change, but there might have been more money out there had he chose to look around. He's a 25-year-old defensive end coming off a breakout season.
As Okwara said himself, "The most important position on the field is the quarterback. Next is the defensive end, I’d say."
Just look at the other top pass-rushers on this year's market. Shaquil Barrett got $17 million per year from the Buccaneers, Bud Dupree got $16.5 million per year from the Titans, Trey Hendrickson got $15 million per year from the Bengals, Carl Lawson got $15 million per year from the Jets and Matt Judon got $13.6 million per year from the Patriots.
Okwara took $13 million per year from Detroit and had more sacks last season than all but one of them. Because sticking with Julian was more important than a couple extra million bucks per year.
"He missed most of last year injured so we didn’t really get that time to be on the field together, and through college we were separated for a while," Okwara said. "Being able to share that time with my brother on the same team is priceless."
They wound up living next to door to each other, essentially roommates. They ate dinner together, hung out together and FaceTimed their Mom together, especially when Romeo was doing the cooking. They spent more time together than they had in some 10-odd years when they were still living at home in Charlotte, NC.
The Lions will be counting on the duo to fuel their pass rush next season. Julian, also a defensive end, should be fully healthy after a leg injury cost him nine games as a rookie. And Okwara will be poised for an encore after racking up 10 sacks, three forced fumbles and nearly a third of Detroit's QB pressures last season.
"I think we’re building something really special here," Okwara said.
As soon as Julian followed Romeo to Ardrey Key HS in Charlotte, Romeo was off to Notre Dame. And as soon as Julian followed him there, Romeo was off to the NFL. So as soon as the Lions drafted Julian in the third round last April, Romeo started dreaming big about what they could do in Detroit.
It's no coincidence that their contracts now both run through 2023.
"That was definitely something I wanted to get done, to be able to spend time helping him develop and (for us) develop this defense together," Okwara said.