Detroit Lions want to sign Amon-Ra St. Brown long-term

Highlights

• Amon-Ra St. Brown has been a standout wide receiver for the Detroit Lions since he was drafted in 2021.
• A contract extension for St. Brown would align with his stellar performance, making him one of the league’s top-paid pass catchers.
• Despite being a fourth-round pick, St. Brown has exceeded expectations and proven himself as a valuable investment for the team.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Amon-Ra St. Brown has been the Detroit Lions’ number-one target in the passing game over the last three seasons.

According to Dave Birkett from the Detroit Free Press, the player’s agent and the team will meet in Indianapolis during combine week to discuss an extension. Head coach Dan Campbell was effusive in his praise of St. Brown, especially when it comes to the 24-year-old’s preparation and reliability:

His whole routine that he goes through on every day of the week to prepare, and then what it’s going to look like in pregame, what it’s going to look like in the game, what it’s going to look like postgame, what he’s going to do on his day off.

It’s the same thing and there’s nothing easy about what he does. But for him, it’s routine and it’s why he’s a great player. It’s consistency. You know exactly what you’re going to get every time, so it’s easy when you have a guy like him on your team. It’s easy to gameplan with him what you can do because you know what you’re going to get.

After a rough couple of decades, the Lions have emerged as one of the better teams in the NFL, losing in the NFC Championship in heartbreaking fashion this past season, and their star wide receiver is a massive part of that. A long-term deal that would make St. Brown one of the highest-paid pass catchers in the league would make sense for both sides.

St. Brown could be one of the highest-paid WRs

Lions WR emerged as one of the best at his position in the NFL

Despite his draft status, St. Brown was a force during his 2021 rookie season, catching 90 passes for 912 yards and five touchdowns. During the 2022 season, St. Brown and quarterback Jared Goff took a step forward, making the Lions a playoff contender. That year, the receiver notched 106 receptions for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns.

Detroit went into the 2023 season with big expectations, and St. Brown was a key cog in meeting them. He finished tied for second in the league with 119 catches, third with 1,515 receiving yards, and fourth with ten touchdown catches. St. Brown was named to his second straight Pro Bowl and was a First-Team All-Pro as well.

Importantly, the Lions made the playoffs and won their first postseason game since January 1992. During Detroit’s three-game playoff run, St. Brown caught 22 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown. In the team’s heartbreaking NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the receiver caught seven passes for 87 yards.

The 24-year-old seems like a solid investment for the Lions, according to coach Dan Campbell:

The things that he does every day in practice and every game show up all the time. That’s what a pro is, and it’s why he’s a pro. I mean, it’s—you can write down everything that he’s going to do and he’ll do it.

As a fourth-round pick, St. Brown’s initial contract was only for four years and $4.2 million. It is fair to say that he has significantly outplayed his contract. The five highest-paid wide receivers in the league make between $24 and $30 million, and St. Brown has certainly performed to that level.

Source: Dave Birkett

All statistics are courtesy of Pro Football Reference, and all contract figures are courtesy of Spotrac unless otherwise noted.