Turns out the offseason rumors were right.
The Detroit Lions opened training camp on Wednesday morning, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs wasn’t there on the practice field. He has officially reported to camp, as evidenced by a photo from the Lions’ media team, but at this point it’s pretty clear Gibbs doesn’t intend to actually practice until there is some sort of new contract deal in place.
While this isn’t the first time the Lions have found themselves in some contractual drama (remember Alex Anzalone
last year?), this is the first time there has been a snag in extending a core player beyond their rookie contract while Brad Holmes has been in town. Typically, those deals have gotten done well ahead of time with literally no drama.
Now, the Lions do still have a long runway with Gibbs. After exercising his fifth-year option earlier this offseason, the Lions have their star running back under contract through the 2027 season. But this is the time in which the Lions have typically given new deals to their best players still on rookie contract, so it’s somewhat reasonable for Gibbs to be making this negotiating tactic.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Are you mad about Jahmyr Gibbs’ sit in? If so, who’s to blame?
My answer: At this point, I don’t think there’s any valid reason to be mad. Gibbs has missed a single practice, and it appears there’s been at least some progress in contract talks, as evidenced by Adam Schefter’s relatively optimistic reporting on the situation. If this thing lingers several weeks into training camp, that’s the time to be annoyed.
Don’t get me wrong. It would be nice to have Gibbs out there for the entirety of training camp. I’d love to see him out there getting used to Drew Petzing’s new scheme, preparing his body for a more full workload, and I’d rather him not set this sort of precedent for other players in similar situations.
However, I can also recognize that Gibbs doesn’t want to risk any sort of injury before getting paid. An NFL career is so fragile and it can turn your fortune around completely in an instant. We saw how quickly the career outlook of Kerby Joseph changed last season, and there’s already been a handful of NFL players who have suffered season-ending injuries before the first week of training camp has ended. With running backs’ careers being especially short and fragile, I don’t fault for Gibbs trying to cash in when he can.
It’s not an ideal situation, and I certainly understand those who are frustrated to see this happen after what has already been a pretty frustrating offseason. But until Gibbs actually misses significant time, I’m not too worried about it.
