Lions lock up Jameson Williams with three-year, $83 million extension ahead of opener
Detroit secures its deep threat through 2029, pairing Williams with Amon-Ra St. Brown as its top receiving duo
The Detroit Lions agreed to a three-year contract extension with wide receiver Jameson Williams on Sunday, keeping the 24-year-old deep threat in Detroit through the 2029 season in a deal worth up to $83 million, according to ESPN.
The move comes just ahead of Detroit's season opener on the road against the Green Bay Packers and follows a breakout 2024 season for Williams. The 12th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Alabama finished last year with 58 catches for 1,001 yards — his first 1,000-yard season — and seven touchdowns in 15 games.
Williams becomes the latest building block locked into place for an offense that ranked second in the NFL last season, averaging 409.5 yards per game. The Lions already had All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown signed through 2028, giving Detroit continuity at the top of its receiving corps.
"As you come in, I felt like I was getting used in certain ways, but now, it’s opening up the doors for coaches to use me in different ways," Williams said earlier this week. "So it’s a lot more ways I’m being used, and I just locked in on everything."
St. Brown totaled 1,263 yards on 115 catches last season as quarterback Jared Goff and the Lions posted a 15-2 regular-season record and won the NFC North. Detroit's season ended in a playoff loss to Washington.
The extension for Williams secures what figure to be a potent No. 1/No. 2 receiving tandem for the foreseeable future, complementing Detroit's passing attack and providing a deep threat that helped generate a 17.3-yard average per catch for Williams in 2024.
Detroit did not reach an extension with Pro Bowl edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson before Sunday's opener, and the franchise had not been expected to do so, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The contract preserves salary-cap predictability for the Lions at a position of strength while signaling commitment to the roster that produced one of the league's most productive offenses last season. Williams' deal follows a pattern of teams locking down young playmakers after significant on-field production and comes as Detroit seeks to translate last season's regular-season success into deeper postseason runs.
