While talks on a long-term extension are at an impasse, Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta indicated Wednesday, Oct. 7, he's still open to getting a deal done in-season.
“I don't know if it's truly off the table," LaPorta said in Allen Park. "But I think there's certainly a stalemate right now and I'm really giving the reins to my agent, Jack Bechta, and he's been handling it with the front office, and all the advice he's given me so far is that we just, we haven't come to terms yet. That’s about it."
NFL Network reported last weekend the Lions and LaPorta's representatives have broken off contract talks for now in order to focus on the season.
LaPorta, a second-round pick out of Iowa in 2023, has been one of the most productive tight ends in the NFL
the past three seasons, but missed the final eight games last year after undergoing back surgery.
Through four games this year, LaPorta is tied for second on the Lions with 22 catches for 228 yards and two touchdowns. He has played 87% of the Lions' offensive snaps this year, is on pace to set career-highs in receptions and receiving yards, and has shown no residual from his back injury.
"The body feels great. It's held up great," he said. "The back is great. I took scans, MRIs before the season. It's great. Sent it to Dr. [Robert] Watkins, the guy who did my surgery. He responded and said everything looks fantastic and I should have a long, healthy career to follow. And excited to play more snaps, 90, 90-plus percent more."
The Lions (2-2) have been up front about their desire to sign LaPorta to a long-term extension since the offseason, even as the tight end market has soared in value.
Green Bay's Tucker Kraft, who shares an agent with LaPorta, signed a four-year extension before the start of the season that made him the third-highest-paid tight end at $18.75 million per season, and Atlanta's Kyle Pitts and Las Vegas' Michael Mayer also got deals worth at least $15 million per year this offseason.
San Francisco's George Kittle, the NFL's highest-paid tight end at $19.1 million per season, also shares an agent with LaPorta.
Asked if it was important for him to be the highest-paid tight end in the NFL, LaPorta, who's in the final year of his rookie contract and turns 26 in January, did not answer directly.
The Lions can use the franchise tag to keep LaPorta off the open market if the two sides don't reach agreement on a new deal by the spring.
"I don't – I've never hung my hat on, like, being the highest paid tight end, being the first tight end to get drafted in my class, making the Pro Bowl, being first-team All-Pro," LaPorta said. "I've always put all my chips in the pile of, 'what can I do for the team?' And those chips are still all there. And, like I said, I'm letting my agent and the front office handle the financial side of things, and when I feel like we're a go, you guys will know. And I'm sure the news will break and everybody will shoot confetti in the air. It'll be the whole thing."
Lions coach Dan Campbell said LaPorta played his best game of the season in last week's loss to the Carolina Panthers, hours after reports of a contract stalemate emerged. And on Wednesday, he insisted there's no animosity between the tight end and the organization.
“All that stuff, man, that's the last thing on my mind right now is what's going on with all that," Campbell said. "There's always going to be two sides and you work through these things and just because there's a report of that doesn't mean that that's some big issue, big deal. I love LaPorta, we love LaPorta. He's a heck of a football player and I thought he played his best game the other day. And so his work ethic, his production speaks for itself.”
Said Lions assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery, "He's doing a good job of getting back to where he was and we definitely got to match him with energy and the way that he played this game."
LaPorta said he believes "people really respect me and value me in this building," and said "it would be great to be here" long-term. If that doesn't happen, he said, "I'm going to continue to play football. It's what I love to do, and my family supports me wherever I am."
“I would like to think that I'm optimistic [a deal still gets done]," he said. "I say that with a smile, because this is the organization that took a chance on me and drafted me and took me in, and there was a very deep tight end class the year that I came out in 2023, and there's been a lot of great tight ends that have come out of that class, some of which have gotten paid, some of which are younger than me and gotten paid, and that's about all I can comment on other than, I'm going to keep doing my thing, keeping my head down and working hard."
Mayer, a second-round pick in 2023, went one pick after LaPorta at No. 34 overall, while Kraft, a third-round pick the same year, went 78th overall. Tight ends Brenton Strange of the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 61) and Darnell Washington of the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 93) also have signed extensions from the 2023 draft.
The Lions have signed two other members of their 2023 draft, running back Jahmyr Gibbs and linebacker Jack Campbell, to long-term deals.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sam LaPorta: Lions contract talks at stalemate, open to deal in-season
