Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs has been at the team’s practice sessions the last couple of days, but he has remained an observer rather than a participant in the team’s training camp work.
Gibbs’s absence from the field has been linked to his desire for a contract extension, although a hold-in has not been confirmed beyond head coach Dan Campbell saying last week that it is a case of “both sides working through something.” On Monday, Gibbs briefly spoke to reporters on his way into the team’s facility and said “it’s not about that” when asked if a new deal has to be in place for him to get on the field.
When asked what it is about, however, Gibbs said “I don’t know” and offered little hint about when the situation might change.
“Only time will tell,” Gibbs said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is also in the market for a new contract and sitting out of practice at the moment. A deal for one could help pave the way for the other, but there’s been no sign that an agreement is imminent for either player as both teams move closer to the start of the season.
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The Lions moved on from cornerback Terrion Arnold after his arrest on multiple felony charges arising from an alleged armed robbery and kidnapping. Does Arnold’s absence hurt the Lions?
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard recently addressed the perception that losing Arnold negatively impacts the team in very blunt fashion.
“I’m not going to say it was a setback, so to say, because to me, honestly, that’s disrespectful to the guys that’s still in this locker room,” Sheppard said Sunday, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “What I’ll say is Terrion Arnold had No. 1 cornerback potential, but it was still untapped, you know what I mean? And I’ll kind of leave that at that.”
“Untapped” is a kind way of saying that, in two NFL seasons, Arnold failed to live up to his draft pedigree.
If he had, the Lions wouldn’t have cut him.
It’s that simple. Excuses are made for the stars. If Arnold had been a Sauce Gardner-style two-time All-Pro to begin his career, the Lions would be spouting off phrases like “innocent until proven guilty” while circling the wagons around Arnold. Because he wasn’t good enough to justify the P.R. hit arising from his arrest, Arnold was released.
The fact that he remains unsigned underscores that reality. If he was viewed as a high-end player, someone would have claimed him on waivers. Someone would have signed him by now.
Remember when his agent testified regarding a “very good likelihood” that Arnold would be signed within 45 days? That was 24 days ago. Since then, Arnold has gotten no offers.
Could an opportunity arise as players suffer injuries during training camp? Possibly. Unless teams fear that, promptly after signing Arnold, the league office will put him on paid leave.
Even though Arnold denies the allegations, they are serious charges. They carry a potential sentence of life in prison. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing anything until the case is resolved in a way that fully and completely clears him.
So, no, Arnold’s absence isn’t a setback for the Lions. The setback happened when they used a first-round pick on a player who, for whatever reason, didn’t become what the Lions expected him to be.
The Lions have added some depth at tight end.
Detroit announced on Monday morning that the club has signed Nick Muse.
Muse, 27, has appeared in 16 career games, all of which came with the Vikings. Minnesota brought him into the league as a seventh-round pick in 2022.
He’s also spent time with the Eagles, Cardinals, Rams, and Jets.
As a corresponding move, the Lions waived receiver Tarik Black, who had joined the club in June.
Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was asked today whether Jahmyr Gibbs deserves to be the highest-paid running back in the NFL. He said that’s an easy question to answer.
“Of course. No question. He’s the best. I wouldn’t even say look at the stats, look at the film. Nobody close. He’s the best,” Williams said.
Williams said he’s not just a friend of Gibbs, but a fan of Gibbs.
“When Zero gets on the field, it’s game changing for us. To me he’s unstoppable. He gets through the line of scrimmage, he goes 70. I love playing with him. I love watching him. He’s got one of the best games I’ve ever seen,” Williams said.
Williams said he’s eager to see Gibbs back on the field.
“He’s the best of the best. Hopefully coming up we get to see my boy get something done so he can be back out here for us,” Williams said. “I’m really excited for him. I know what he can do for us.”
Gibbs is in attendance at training camp but not practicing while he negotiates a new contract.
As the saying goes, the market is the market. But what is the market?
It’s an important question as it relates to Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, as they hold-in (wisely) pending new contracts.
The running back market is currently led by Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, with a new-money APY of $20.6 million. The prevailing view would be that Barkley’s deal becomes the bar that Robinson and Gibbs should be trying to nudge a little bit higher.
The other side of it is that they should be blowing the whole thing up.
The receiver market is north of $42 million. Who would you rather have on your favorite team? Robinson or Gibbs — or Seahawk receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the current highest-paid receiver in the NFL?
How about Robinson/Gibbs or Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who pushed the receiver number to $40 million last year?
The question, however it’s resolved, is far closer than the gap between what Smith-Njigba/Chase are making and where the top of the running back market currently resides.
That’s not to say all veteran running backs should be making considerably more, even if they should. The best running backs touch the ball more often than the best receivers. The best running backs present defenses with a player who constantly needs to be tracked, wherever they go and whatever they do. The best running backs open up the entire offense.
But they also present a much greater risk of injury, given the traffic of large torsos and limbs around and through which they constantly run. They are, at any given time, one play away from not being able to play for the rest of the season. The teams don’t want to tie up that much cap and cap space in such hazards.
For now, the question focuses on Robinson and Gibbs. Should it be a matter of getting them to $21 million or $22 million per year, or should they be north of $25 million?
If Robinson or Gibbs were currently available to any team, wouldn’t they get at least $25 million per year?
That’s likely the biggest issue the Falcons and Lions are facing. In Atlanta, former head coach Raheem Morris repeatedly said last year that Robinson is the best player in the league. In Detroit, the Lions have reconfigured the roster to make Gibbs the workhorse.
They’re still young; both are 24. They’re in their primes, with plenty of tread on the tires. This is the time for them to get as much as they can. And it’s easy to argue that they should get something closer to what the best receivers get than where the top of the running back market currently sits.
The Lions have agreed to terms with free agent linebacker Devin White on a one-year deal, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
White, 28, is entering his eighth season.
He spent last season with the Raiders and started all 17 games, totaling 174 tackles, 2.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits, one interception, three forced fumbles and one pass breakup. It was the first time he played all 17 games since 2022.
The Buccaneers made White the fifth overall choice in 2019, and he spent his first five seasons in Tampa. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2021, a season after second-team All-Pro accolades.
In the three games in the 2020 playoffs when the Bucs won the championship, White recorded two interceptions, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
He played seven games for the Texans in 2024 before going to the Raiders for the 2025 season.
Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill tore his ACL in December of 2024, wasn’t cleared to return until the middle of the 2025 season, and was never fully healthy last year. Now, he is.
Coach Dan Campbell said the impact on the Lions’ defense of having McNeill at 100 percent is going to be massive.
“Mac is very important. It is gonna be huge,” Campbell said. “I know we’re only two days in, but he does look better. He looks like he’s back to what he was. He’s healthy. He would never say anything about it, he never did last year, but when we went back and watched clip after clip back to back, he was favoring the leg a little bit. I don’t think he even realized it. It’s just good to have him back. He looks great, he’s moving well and he’s a huge piece of our defense.”
Asked about center Juice Scruggs struggling in practice, Campbell attributed that more to how well McNeill is practicing.
“It’s also going against Alim McNeill, and Mac’s practicing really well right now,” Campbell said.
McNeill was playing at a very high level before his injury in 2024, and if the Lions can get him back to that level, they’ve added a huge piece to their defense that wasn’t in place last year.
Tight end Anthony Firkser is back with the Lions.
The team announced Firkser’s signing on Friday morning. The Commanders released Firkser earlier this week.
Firkser played for the Lions last season and in 2023. He had eight catches for 53 yards in seven games last year and played in two games during his first stint with the team.
Firkser has also played for the Titans, Falcons, Chiefs and Jets. He has 123 catches for 1,260 yards and five touchdowns in 85 career games.
Tight end Zach Horton was waived in a corresponding move. Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright, and Tyler Conklin are the other veteran tight ends in Detroit, although Conklin is currently on the physically unable to perform list.
A year ago, Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was full-go in training camp, but he was still focused on recovering from the broken leg that had ended his 2024 season. This year, Hutchinson has put the injury completely behind him.
Hutchinson said today at Lions training camp that it is “extremely liberating” not to be thinking about his injury the way he was a year ago.
“I feel like a new person,” Hutchinson said. “Physically, mentally, I feel like there was a lot looming last year going into the season. It feels good. Everything’s settled and I can just focus on football, keep what’s important in front of me”
Asked how high his goals are for 2026, Hutchinson said they’re sky-high.
“Every year,” Hutchinson said, “we’re shooting for the stars.”
Jahmyr Gibbs is staging an apparent hold-in as he seeks a new deal.
Head coach Dan Campbell didn’t explicitly confirm that, but it is certainly the implication with what he told reporters during his Thursday press conference.
“I’ll just leave it at this: You guys know how I feel, how we feel about Gibbs — and what the team feels about him. And I’ll leave it at that,” Campbell said. “Listen, all the other stuff — my job is to coach who’s out there right now. And I love the kid. But I’ve got a team to coach right now.
“And, listen, whatever all this [is], at some point here, it’ll get done. It’s going to get done. I’m not even sweating it.”
Asked directly if Gibbs will not be on the field until he receives a new contract, Campbell deflected.
“No. I don’t know,” Campbell said. “Look, I know, this thing, before yesterday, he did his conditioning test and had a little bit of a back [issue], and we’ll see.
“But, look, I’m not sweating it.”
Campbell did note that if there’s a silver lining, it’s that the situation has opened up opportunities for players like Isiah Pacheco and Sione Vaki to get more practice reps.
With Bijan Robinson — a member of the same 2023 draft class — also staging an apparent hold-in with the Falcons, we’ll see who gets a new deal first.
