Lions, Alex Anzalone Both Have Botched Contract Matter

The Detroit Lions and linebacker Alex Anzalone have been an ideal match over the past four seasons.

Anzalone signed with the team in 2021 and has become a four-time defensive captain, cementing himself as a core member of the organization and it's defense. The Lions, meanwhile, have believed in the Florida product and allowed him to flourish.

However, the two sides are at an impasse three days into training camp ahead of the 2025 season.

Anzalone is entering the final year of his contract and is due $6 million, which ranks second on the Lions and well down the list of the league's highest-paid linebackers. As a result, he feels as though he's underpaid by the team, and is disappointed in the organization that the situation remains unresolved.

"It's just kind of obvious, I think," Anzalone said when asked why he feels underpaid. "Production, play, the market."

The Lions and Anzalone are now at a crossroads, as it marks the first time in the last several years that a contract dispute has made significant headlines at Lions training camp.

In the past, general manager Brad Holmes has been proactive addressing these matters. However, this situation is different and as such Anzalone is disappointed.

However, the way in which he handled the issue may have been worked had it been done differently.

"I wouldn't have done that because you're alerting everybody to, hey, you're not happy. That's the first thing we all look at, is Alex isn't happy," this writer said. "We talked about it all offseason because every time someone would retweet something, there's Alex with a question mark, and 'Hey, look at this.' You're drawing attention to youself. And Alex deserves (the contract). But look, Aidan (Hutchinson) is probably in the same boat. But you don't see him doing that. I just think from my persective, first and foremost, Alex deserves the contract. Deserves another year, deserves probably a raise this year and next year, but you didn't need to make this a spectacle."

The linebacker market he's referring to has seen several players cash in on new deals this offseason, including the Philadelphia Eagles paying Zack Baun $51 million over three years and the Kansas City Chiefs paying Nick Bolton $45 million over three years.

Additionally, the Lions paid fellow linebacker Derrick Barnes, who was set to hit the free agent market prior to his new extension. Meanwhile, Anzalone has not received a new deal throughout the offseason.

The latest 'Lone Wolves' podcast explores takeaways from the third day of Lions' training camp, including that the defense won the day and the overall physicality of one of the team's final non-contact practices before putting the pads on Friday.

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