PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Detroit Lions likely will exercise the fifth-year option on wide receiver Jameson Williams' contract this spring, but general manager Brad Holmes said the team still is working through whether to give Williams a long-term contract extension.
"We're still taking it as it goes," Holmes said Monday at the NFL's annual spring meeting. "Look, his fifth-year option, it's looking likely that we'll go ahead and just pick that up. But in terms of extension, again, there's a lot of extensions that are hopefully coming, but it's just one that you just don't know what's going to happen from a financial standpoint cause a wide receiver, it's expensive. It's very expensive.
"So, look, these are good problems."
The Lions built a Super Bowl-contending roster largely through the draft and have spent the past 12 months focused on re-signing much of that talent to second contracts.
Last year, the Lions gave extensions to 2021 draft picks Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Alim McNeill, and they re-signed two more 2021 picks – Derrick Barnes and Levi Onwuzurike – in free agency.
Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick of the 2022 draft, and Kerby Joseph, a third-rounder the same year, are in line for contract extensions this offseason, and Holmes said Monday the Lions' desire to retain their own players was the primary reason they were quiet this spring in free agency.
"I don't want our fans to think that we're just not making the splashy move because we don't want to do that," Holmes said. "It's just we’re just being disciplined and make sure that we are able to sustain winning but also win now."
The Lions traded up to take Williams with the 12th pick of the 2022 draft, though the wide receiver is in a slightly different situation contractually than Hutchinson and Joseph.
Williams, 24, finished second on the Lions with 1,001 yards receiving on 58 catches and established himself as one of the NFL's best deep threats, but he also has served
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