ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Taylor Decker, the longest-tenured player for the Detroit Lions, has agreed to a three-year extension.
The left tackle reached an agreement on a three-year, $60 million extension that includes $31.83 million guaranteed, agent Jonathan Feinsod announced on social media Monday.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes announced the deal on 97.1 The Ticket’s “Costa & Jansen with Heather” show, during training camp at the Meijer Performance Center but didn’t disclose terms. He said they reached the agreement Sunday.
Decker, 29, was entering the last year of a deal scheduled to pay him $13.7 million. He is now under contract through the 2027 season.
“He’s been a key cog of what we’ve been building, what we’ve doing. His leadership, his professionalism,” Holmes told 97.1 The Ticket. “He’s a guy that really embraced our culture, so he’s a big part of what we do, and it all starts up front with the offensive line, as we all know, so I’m just really, really happy that we were able to get that one done and happy for Deck and his family.”
The Lions have signed both of their starting offensive tackles to extensions this year. In April, the team signed starting right tackle Penei Sewell to a four-year, $112 million extension.
The Lions selected Decker at No. 16 in the 2016 draft out of Ohio State. His 112 starts is 32 more than any other Lions player in that span.
“This is where I wanted to be. I had pretty much no interest in going to any other team,” Decker said Monday. “I wanted to be here and a big factor of that is the guys I get to play with, and I want to continue to play with them.”
Decker is a respected veteran who has witnessed the franchise transform throughout his career. Looking ahead to the 2024 season, he feels that the current squad is a serious contender to win a Super Bowl.
“It’s just really special and I’m fortunate and I’m glad that the Lions continue to see the value that I can add to this team moving forward because I’m excited to just see it through,” Decker said. “This will be nine years I’ve been here now and there’s been highs and lows and it seems like we’re on an upswing right now and I’m going to get to see it through and I couldn’t be happier about that.”
Decker had his highest pass block win rate (92.4%) last season since 2017, the first season that metric became available. Pass block win rate measures how often a player holds his block for 2.5 seconds. Decker was also seventh among all NFL offensive tackles in pass block win rate last season, just behind Sewell, his All-Pro Lions teammate.
Entering his ninth season, Decker said he wants to continue to add value as guys are gunning for his job.
“I think I’m in my prime. I still think I am, and I think I’ll be able to play as long as I want to, knock on wood — barring any freak accidents,” he said. “So, I want to be here. I want to be a part of this team and when you want to and you have passion to add value, that makes it a little easier to get up and do the workouts in the offseason, whether you’re 22 or gonna be 31. So, it’s definitely special.”
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