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Detroit Lions executive vice president and general manager Brad Holmes and assistant general manager Ray Agnew held their annual post-training press conference on August 29, and they spoke about how important it was to sign Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell to big contracts during this offseason.
Large Contracts Make an Impact in the Lions’ Locker Room, Ray Agnew Says
During the press conference, Agnew spoke about the impact big contracts have on players’ mindsets in the locker room.
“Coming from a player’s point of view, in a locker room, when your organization takes care of your top guys, it sends a message in the locker room, you know, that they about the right things,” he said. “So, that’s what has been most exciting for me as a former player, what the locker room sees when you pay a St Brown…I think that sent a great message to the locker room and does a lot for the psyche of our players.”
During the offseason, the Lions gave Goff a four-year contract extension worth more than $200 million, with $170 million guaranteed. The Lions also gave St. Brown a four-year, $120 million contract extension with $77 million guaranteed, and Sewell a four-year, $112 million deal.
Signing Jared Goff During the Offseason Was ‘Better for Everybody’
Holmes said that while Goff didn’t need the large contract to work hard on the field for the Lions, it was the right move.
“Oh, yeah. He’s the right guy. He’s the right leader for us,” Holmes said. “He didn’t need a contract to go out there and do what he does on the field. He truly earned that, and I have not seen a change in him. If anything, it’s just been better, just because it’s another year of the continuity. I give Dan (Campbell) a lot of credit in terms of the continuity that he’s had with the coaching staff. That’s obviously helped, and you know, we have a lot of familiar faces along with that, too.”
He added, “So, I see it being even better. It’s been amazing to see his growth as a player ever since our days back with the Rams with him. But, yeah, I’m not going to say that he needed the contract to elevate him. He was already elevated at a high level. But, I do think it’s going to be better for all the other things…the market is going to change every single day. You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, so I’ve always felt, we’ve always felt, the earlier, the better for everybody.”
Brad Holmes: ‘You Don’t Know What’s Going to Happen the Next Week’
Holmes also talked about contract extensions from the player’s point of view, stating, “First of all, I know that the player doesn’t want to wait around and be strung along, and, you know, us, as an organization, we do a lot of planning and preparation to reward these players as early as possible. Because you don’t know what’s going to happen the next week, the next month.”
He added, “We’ve just got to worry about what we have to to do, and we try to do the best we can in terms of prediction and operating with discernment with all that stuff. But, that’s how we choose to operate.”
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