Sam LaPorta wants to clear the air. After making major waves this week by saying that "I’ll go get paid somewhere else" if the Lions don't meet his demands on a new deal -- "so, whatever" -- LaPorta met with reporters Friday in Allen Park and said, "I feel bad if there was any sort of distraction to the team or my teammates or the coaches."
"But I think there was maybe a bit of a misconception," he said. "My intentions are, I want to play for this team. I give it everything I have, my teammates do as well. They all love me, respect me and support me and they want to see me be happy and compensated."
Brad Holmes and the Lions have made it clear they want to keep LaPorta, who's in his contract season. But talks between the two sides on an extension have been at a stalemate for the past few weeks. LaPorta said this week on the Pardon My Take podcast that "the combination of getting your heartstrings twisted as well as the violent sport that we play, it sucks."
"And it’s disappointing that you go out there every week and you bear the risk of getting hurt, like last year, I break my f**king back for the team, and then I’m going out there this year and I’m ballin' and maybe they’re just not showing the love."
Dan Campbell on Sam LaPorta: "He's an unselfish teammate, an unselfish player. Listen man, sometimes things happen, things get said. It's all good. You can never take anything personal when you start talking about business." https://t.co/4dLShPZmsf
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) October 23, 2026
LaPorta's comments rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way. Asked Friday where his frustration stems from, he said, "I guess I wouldn’t expect anybody else to really even care, but emotionally, for me and my family, it’s an important thing for us. We want to have stability."
"We’re excited, in the coming months we’re going to have our first kid, me and my wife, we’re going to welcome our baby girl into the world, in Metro Detroit. We want to be here with the Lions, and I guess I’m getting emotional about it," LaPorta said. "But in the grand scheme of things, it’s really a business and you have to respect what the front office is doing because they’re the ones calling the shots, they’re the ones that brought me in. It’s my first team. They’ve been nothing but supportive of me in my career."
LaPorta is on pace for 90-plus catches and 1,000-plus yards for the first time in his career, which would break the franchise records for catches and yards by a tight end that he set as a rookie. He looks like the same dominant player he was before he suffered a back injury last November that required season-ending surgery.
If the Lions were waiting for confirmation that he's healthy before committing to him long-term, LaPorta is likely wondering what more they need to see. Asked about producing through the off-field noise, he said, "You learn early in your career that you’re being employed and you’re being compensated to do good work for this team, and if you’re not doing good work you’re not going to be here."
LaPorta went on to say that while he doesn't necessarily regret his comments on Pardon My Take, he doesn't "expect other people to understand" his perspective as a highly-paid professional athlete.
"And we’re very blessed. I’m getting paid of millions of dollars this year, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. It’s coming from a stance of, I want security for me and my family, but also when I reflect on other people in the league, I feel like I’m doing just as good of a job if not better, and I want to be paid like those guys," he said.
Packers tight end Tucker Kraft, for example, signed a four-year, $75 million extension at the start of this season that makes him the third highest-paid tight end in the league at $18.75 million per year. LaPorta has a strong case for more. In one fewer game than Kraft, a fellow product of the 2023 draft, LaPorta has 75 more catches, 620 more yards and seven more touchdowns.
The highest-paid tight end in the NFL is George Kittle of the 49ers at $19.1 million per year, followed by Trey McBride of the Cardinals at $19 million. But they both signed those deals two offseasons ago. The NFL's salary cap has grown considerably since, and isn't slowing down.
LaPorta said Friday that talks with the Lions haven't yet resumed. The team could franchise tag him this offseason for about $17 million in 2027. That might irk LaPorta further, by keeping him off the open market. But it would give the two sides more time to work out a long-term deal.
"I am one person in a ginormous machine in this building, and I want to continue to do my part and hopefully something happens soon," LaPorta said.
