The Detroit Lions media staff typically sets up the post-practice interview subjects before practice starts, barring something exceptional happening in the training camp session. On Monday, the first padded practice of camp, the Lions media staff had already tabbed defensive tackle Alim McNeill to speak with us before the exceptional news happened.
That news, of course, was the three-year contract extension with left tackle Taylor Decker. The new deal with Decker means everyone who needed to get paid, and who was eligible to be paid as a franchise building block this offseason, has gotten paid — except McNeill.
Entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract, McNeill has emerged as one of the NFL’s bright young standouts at his position. Despite almost no help from anyone around him on the defensive interior, McNeill managed five sacks and a more polished all-around impact in his third year.