A week of bank-breaking running back contracts was capped by Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs breaking the bank by the biggest margin.
Gibbs, now the highest-paid running back in the league, signed his new contract on Friday.
Here are the full and complete details, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $15 million.
2. 2026 90-man roster bonus: $2.038 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 base salary: $1.145 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2027 option bonus: $10.033 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2027 base salary: $1.26 million, fully guaranteed.
6. 2028 offseason workout bonus: $250,000, fully guaranteed but must be earned.
7. 2028 base salary: $10.25 million, fully guaranteed.
(The full 2028 compensation package is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8.25 million is fully guaranteed. The remaining $2.25 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2027.)
8. 2029 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.
9. 2029 base salary: $22.25 million, $11.5 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2028. The remaining $3.5 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2029.
10. 2030 offseason roster bonus: $1 million.
11. 2030 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.
12. 2030 base salary: $21.25 million.
The contract also includes $4.125 million in available escalators for 2029 and 2030 each. For 2029, Gibbs gets $562,500 for each year from 2026 through 2028 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $562,500 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.
For 2030, Gibbs gets $421,875 for each year from 2026 through 2029 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $421,875 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.
Gibbs also gets $750,000 in each year for winning the MVP award a single time.
If the escalator package sounds familiar, it should. It’s identical to the Bijan Robinson incentive package. In fact, the overall structure of the two deals is virtually identical.
It appears that the Lions and/or Gibbs took the Bijan deal and used it as the template for the Gibbs deal, with more total money for Gibbs.
The biggest difference is the amount. The Robinson new-money APY is $22.25 million, and the maximum value is $25 million. For Gibbs, the new-money APY is $22.5 million, with a maximum value of $25.25.
From signing, the Gibbs deal has a five-year average of $16.995 million. Robinson’s deal has a five-year average of $16.36 million.
That may not seem like much, but it works out to a difference of more than $3 million.
