New Contract for Kerby Joseph in Lions' Offseason Plans

The Detroit Lions have plenty of decisions to make regarding players that will either need or be eligible for new contracts in 2025.

Notably, the 2022 Draft class is up for extensions this season. Among that group is safety Kerby Joseph, who led the NFL in interceptions this season with nine and earned First-Team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press.

With Joseph entering the final year of his rookie deal, general manager Brad Holmes explained where things currently stand with the season ending last weekend.

Holmes noted that the team has not entered serious conversations with regards to a new deal for Joseph, but said that the Illinois product has proven himself as a fit for the organization.

"That's on the docket, in terms of to be looked at and discussed. We know where he's at from an eligibility (standpoint). I mean, he's an All-Pro player," Holmes said. "I don't know how you don't make the Pro Bowl with nine interceptions, whatever that is. He's an All-Pro player, and he's another one that's gotten better and better, and he's another one that's proven he's a Detroit Lion. He fits, he fits our culture. It's hard to find ball-hawk guys that will tackle how he does. I think that's what makes him unique. Again, we haven't had intense dialogue about that yet, but obviously we want to keep the good players here."

During his nearly 30-minute media session, Holmes also discussed the expriring contracts of a pair of veterans, offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler and cornerback Carlton Davis.

Zeitler came to Detroit this past offseason on a one-year, $6 million contract and performed well. He will be 35 next season and age could play a factor in his future, but Holmes was impressed with what the team got in the veteran offensive guard.

"I thought Zeitler did a good job this year. It's different when you're changing completely different schemes and early on, he had to get used to how we were doing things," Holmes explained. "But once he got adjusted into that, I thought he did a really good job. A player of that age, you just have to have conversations with him. We had conversations on exit day, and then we'll continue to have dialogue and just kind of see where it goes."

Davis, meanwhile, was acquired in a trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March. He wound up starting 13 games and earned Detroit's CB1 role before suffering a season-ending fractured jaw in the team's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Holmes said Davis outperformed his last season with the Buccaneers in 2024. Like with Joseph, he said that the two sides have not engaged in serious contract talks at this time.

"I thought we got very good play from him. I will be honest, I thought he played better this year than he did the year before, that last year in Tampa," Holmes said. "He'll tell you that too. I thought we got what we wanted to get, unfortunate that we had to lose him (to injury) and be without him. But we're aware of, not just Carlton and Zeitler, but we're aware of a lot of other guys that are either on expiring contracts or guys that had good contributions to our team this year or guys that are worthy for extensions or in consideration for extensions. No intense action yet, but we're very aware of it."