Lions reportedly sign QB Jared Goff to 4-year, $212 million extension

The Detroit Lions have had a busy offseason and that continued Monday with the reported contract extension of quarterback Jared Goff.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Lions are signing Goff to a four-year, $212 million extension. The contract is the richest in team history with $170 million in guaranteed money.

Goff was previously signed through the 2024 season. Neither he nor the team wanted to have his contract situation and possible free agency be an issue as the Lions look to build upon a breakthrough season during which they advanced to the NFC championship game.

After struggling in his first season with the team, when Detroit finished 3–13-1, Goff has been one of the NFL's best quarterbacks as the Lions have developed into playoff contenders.

Last season, his eighth in the NFL, Goff completed 67.3% of his passes for 4,575 yards and 30 touchdowns (with 12 interceptions). He led Detroit to a 12–5 record and the franchise's first playoff win in 32 years with a 24–23 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card playoff round.

The Lions went on to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round before losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game.

Goff joins receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and offensive tackle Penei Sewell as cornerstone players that the team signed to lucrative long-term contracts this offseason. Sewell's deal made him the NFL's highest-paid player at his position, while St. Brown ranks second among receivers in average annual salary.

With the $53 million average annual salary in his new contract, Goff will be — for now — the second-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, trailing only the Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow in yearly salary. (Goff will make $32.3 million next year, the last in the four-year, $134 million extension he signed with the Rams in 2019.)

Goff joined the Lions before the 2021 season in a deal that sent quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams. Los Angeles also traded two first-round draft picks to Detroit, which eventually became receiver Jameson Williams (in 2022) and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (2023). The Lions also used a 2021 third-round pick included in the deal to select defensive tackle Alim McNeill.

The Rams made Goff the No. 1 overall selection in the 2016 draft out of Cal. In his third season, he quarterbacked Los Angeles to Super Bowl LIII, which the Rams lost to the New England Patriots, 13–3.