Feb. 20, 2026, 4:09 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
After a sensational 2025 season with Detroit, the Lions<\/a> are reportedly expected to make running back Jahmyr Gibbs the highest-paid back this offseason as the 2023 first-rounder is up for a much-deserved contract extension and payday.<\/p>\n Gibbs, who is entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract, has eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau in each of the past two seasons and rushed for 1,223 yards and 13 scores in 2025.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Lions’ rushing attack set single-season franchise records for rushing touchdowns (29) and games with 100 rushing yards (16), while tying an NFL single-season record by producing 15 games with at least 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.<\/p>\n Currently, the highest annually paid running back in the league is Philadelphia Eagles’ star Saquon Barkley, who makes $20.6 million per season.<\/p>\n According to Spotrac<\/a>, Gibbs is estimated to carry a $20.2 million market value and is predicted to be offered a contract in the ballpark of 6 years for $60,484,512 ($20,161,504 per season).<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n While that figure is calculated from league-wide trends and comparable contracts for similarly aged players, the Lions certainly want to reward their electric backfield option with a contract that values his skill set and importance to the franchise’s future.<\/p>\n For more\u00a0Lions<\/a>\u00a0coverage, follow us on X,\u00a0@TheLionsWire<\/a>, and give our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0page a like.\u00a0Follow Scout on X:\u00a0@SpringgateNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 20, 2026, 4:09 p.m. ET After a sensational 2025 season with Detroit, the Lions are reportedly expected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[95878,146,113,2506,7,147,6,52959,96502,95882,98769,96242,95893,96791,95896,95888,95895,95899,95906,96071,95883,95894,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-765375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-lions","11":"tag-detroitlions","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-lions","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnfllions","16":"tag-sstsnlions","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagbrad-holmes","19":"tag-tagdetroit-lions","20":"tag-tagfacebook","21":"tag-tagjahmyr-gibbs","22":"tag-tagnational-sports","23":"tag-tagnfl","24":"tag-tagnfl-hub","25":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","26":"tag-tagoverall-positive","27":"tag-tagsmg-timely","28":"tag-tagsports-news","29":"tag-tagtwitter","30":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116105109478098584","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}