Evan Brown must have really wanted to remain a Detroit Lions. In looking at the new one-year contract Brown signed to return as a reserve offensive lineman for Detroit, he took less money to stick with the Lions.
Brown is back in Detroit for one year at a base salary of $1.2 million, a deal he officially signed on Tuesday. With a $600,000 bonus fully guaranteed, that takes Brown’s compensation to $1.8 million. Per-game roster bonuses and a workout bonus tack on another $225,000, pushing the payout to $2.025 million. That’s a good deal for a reserve offensive lineman, especially one who played as well as Brown did in place of injured center Frank Ragnow in 2021.
But the deal looks even better when considering it’s less than Brown would have received if the Lions had placed the restricted free agent tender offer on him. Brown could have refused the agreed-upon deal and accepted the RFA tender at $2.43 million, becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2023. Instead, he took a little less overall money to stay in Detroit and forego free agency.
There are undefined playing time incentives in Brown’s deal that push the potential value higher. But with Ragnow returning to health and the Lions returning their starting guards intact, Brown will only play if there is an injury.
