Lions surprisingly sign their first-round pick ahead their of second-round pick, what that could mean
The Detroit Lions have been hard at work getting their 2025 NFL Draft picks signed to rookie deals. On May 9, the Lions signed Miles Frazier, Ahmed Hassanein, Dan Jackson, and Dominic Lovett. On May 19, they signed third-round pick Isaac TeSlaa.
Now, on May 31st, 23 days ahead of Terrion Arnold signing his deal in 2024, the Lions have signed first-round pick Tyleik Williams to his rookie deal. With a compressed offseason due to the Lions starting training camp early, this move makes sense.
What's surprising, though, is that the Lions signed Williams ahead of second-round pick Tate Ratledge. What does that mean?
For starters, we can tell you what it likely doesn't mean. It likely doesn't mean that Ratledge is holding out or holding the Lions up for more money. That's probably not really what's at play here.
This isn't totally an abnormal practice in the NFL. It's likely because the Lions and Williams agreed to a pretty easy deal right off the bat. In this case, they signed Williams to a fully guaranteed deal.
A far as the answer to what Ratledge's deal could look like, you can look to his new teammate Sam LaPorta. Second-round picks have been signing newer types of deals that have included more guaranteed money. The Lions might be looking to sign Ratledge to a similar type of deal. In the end, that could help the Lions cap-wise as they try to get a bunch of extensions done.
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