In the eyes of Minnesota Vikings fans, Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph will forever be remembered as the player who delivered a dirty hit to the knee of T.J. Hockenson in 2023 that resulted in a torn ACL and MCL for the Pro Bowl tight end.
Booing Joseph has become a common practice among Vikings fans during the last few seasons, and thanks to some recent news, they'll get to boo him in a Lions jersey for even longer than previously anticipated.
Joseph's contract with Detroit was set to expire after the upcoming 2025 campaign, and he would have been able to sign with any team that presented him with an offer in free agency during the 2026 offseason. But that's not going to be happening anytime soon, as ESPN's Adam Schefter shared on Wednesday that the Lions have reportedly signed the veteran safety to a four-year extension worth $86 million.
Minnesota Vikings fans can laugh at the Detroit Lions paying a premium for Kerby Joseph
Despite a bunch of teams opting against paying big money to homegrown safeties this offseason, including Minnesota, Detroit has decided to go against the grain with its lucrative extension for Joseph.
With his new deal, Joseph now has a higher average annual salary ($21.5 million) than guys like Antoine Winfield Jr., Derwin James, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, who are all regarded as arguably the best safeties in the NFL.
Now, Joseph did receive the highest overall PFF defensive grade among qualifying safeties last season. But before that, his PFF defensive grade ranked 83rd out of 95 qualifying safeties in 2023 and 53rd out of 88 in 2022.
So, the Lions are definitely taking a pretty significant risk by banking on Joseph to continue to perform at the level he played at last season, and also do it without Aaron Glenn as the team's defensive coordinator for the first time in his pro career.
Did he have a breakout performance in 2024? Yes, there's no arguing against that. But did Detroit take a huge risk by throwing a bunch of money at him after one good season? Yes, they absolutely did, and Vikings fans will be ready to point and laugh if the risk comes back to bite the Lions in the near future.
