Dan Campbell figured Jahmyr Gibbs would have a new contract by now, and for good reason.
The Detroit Lions
have made a habit of signing their cornerstone draft picks to long-term extensions long before their contracts expired in recent years. They did it with Penei Sewell, they did it with Amon-Ra St. Brown, they did with Aidan Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph and Alim McNeill and Jameson Williams and Jack Campbell.Dan Campbell acknowledged Thursday, July 30, he was surprised by Gibbs' decision to stage a hold-in at the start of training camp this week, but the Lions coach downplayed the move as his star running back's absence from on-field workouts extended into Day 2 of camp.
"I shouldn’t have said bell cow, I guess, right?" Campbell joked. "Honestly,
I didn’t think twice about it. I didn’t think it would be a – I really didn’t. I didn’t. I thought we’d have been done by now but I’m also, I know how this goes now. I’ve been in this league a long time, player and a coach. So I know how it goes so I’m not even sweating it. I’m not sweating it."
Gibbs, who has two years left on his rookie contract, is seeking a new deal that makes him one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL.
Saquon Barkley currently holds that distinction at $20.6 million per season, the only back making more than $20 million per year. Gibbs is scheduled to make $1.145 million in base salary with a $2.038 million roster bonus this fall.
One of the NFL's most electric playmakers, GIbbs led the Lions and finished seventh in the league with 1,223 yards rushing last season. He has 3,580 yards rushing in his first three seasons, his 49 career touchdowns are the most by any player through his first three years in NFL history and his hierarchy in a Lions offense that ranks among the best in the NFL was well known long before Campbell anointed him the team's "bell cow" this offseason.
"You guys know how I feel and how we feel about Gibbs and what the team feels about him, and I’ll leave it at that," Campbell said Thursday. "Listen, all the other stuff, my job is to coach who’s out there right now and I love the kid but, man, I got a team to coach right now. And listen, whatever all this at some point here, it’ll get done. It’s going to get done. I’m not even sweating it."
Gibbs is one of two star running backs staging "hold-ins" in the NFL right now, along with the Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson, Gibbs' classmate from the 2023 draft.
"Hold-ins" have become the preferred method of extracting new contracts in contentious negotiations in recent years as the NFL's collective bargaining agreement requires fines that cannot be rescinded for holdouts.
Campbell said Gibbs "had a little bit of a back" issue when he took part in the Lions' conditioning test this week, though nagging injuries are often considered part of the "hold-in" process.
Last year, Alex Anzalone missed time with a hamstring injury as he awaited a new contract at the start of camp.
On Wednesday, Isiah Pacheco and Sione Vaki took most of the first-team reps at running back for the Lions, and Campbell said there's a "great opportunity" for the rest of the Lions' running back room, too, to get extra work with Gibbs out.
Asked if it's his understanding that Gibbs will continue to miss practice until he gets a new deal, Campbell said, "I don’t know."
"We’ll see," he said. "But Iook, I’m not sweating it."
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: Dan Campbell 'not sweating' Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs' hold-in
