What it really boils down to is that we gave Monty $3.25M right now and have a right to pay him $6M for 2026 and $9M for 2027 (if we choose). Cap number was reduced this year and increased next year, but the cash paid to Monty in 2025 remains the same. No money in 2026 or 2027 is guaranteed, but barring injuries, we will honor 2026 and if he’s playing any where near the way he is currently playing, we will keep him for 2027.
That’s a great deal.
I liked what Goff said about Monty and Alim getting these extensions.
Paraphrasing, he said it’s great and the young players on the team that want to earn a big payday see that it happens with our management, and they can watch these guy practice and see their work ethic they have a good example to follow. That’s like a win, win, win for the Lions.
He was perfect for the time. His effort, buy-in and personality were essential in setting the tone that Brad and Dan needed for their full vision of team to blossom. Replay that season without Swaggy and it would have been more gruesome than it was. Would it have ended on the uptick it did without him?
And:
I was probably the loudest about cutting Michael Brockers because of his abysmal on-field production those first 2 years. All he did was set a tone in the locker room, at practice, and for off-field behavior. I now concede that Dan and Brad were setting templates for players while building for teams in 2023 and beyond.