Lions Exercise Gibbs’ Fifth-Year Option, Decline Campbell’s in Calculated Roster Split

The Detroit Lions have picked up Jahmyr Gibbs’ fifth-year option at $14.3 million while declining Jack Campbell’s $21.9 million option.

The Detroit Lions made two very different fifth-year option decisions on Tuesday, and understanding why requires knowing a quirk in the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. The Lions will exercise the option on running back Jahmyr Gibbs, securing him at $14.3 million fully guaranteed for 2027. They will decline the option on linebacker Jack Campbell, whose number came in at $21.9 million fully guaranteed. The deadline for all such decisions is May 1.

Neither move signals a change in how Detroit feels about either player. Both remain central to the Lions’ long-term plans. The split comes down to math, not preference.

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Gibbs: The Easy Call

Gibbs has been one of the best running backs in the NFL since arriving as the 12th overall pick in 2023, and the option decision was a formality. He has made three consecutive Pro Bowls, rushed for 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025, and added 77 receptions for 616 yards and five more scores out of the backfield after the Lions traded David Montgomery in the offseason.

The numbers behind the numbers are even more striking. Gibbs has more touchdowns (49) than any player in NFL history through three seasons, a mark he claimed by passing Lions legend Barry Sanders late in the 2025 season. His 5,029 career scrimmage yards before his 24th birthday rank eighth all-time. At $14.3 million for 2027, he ties for the fifth-highest average annual value among running backs. The Lions will also pursue a long-term extension this summer, meaning the option is essentially a placeholder for a bigger deal.

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Campbell: The Complicated Call

The Campbell decision is more nuanced and directly traces to a structural flaw in the CBA’s categorization of linebackers. Off-ball linebackers like Campbell are lumped into the same positional bucket as pass-rushing outside linebackers when calculating fifth-year option values. That means his option price is pegged to the transition tag at a position that includes edge rushers earning $28 to $41 million per year.

Had Campbell not made the Pro Bowl in 2025, his option would have been approximately $15.1 million, a number the Lions could have comfortably absorbed. But Campbell’s first-team All-Pro season, which included 176 tackles, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, four passes defensed, and three forced fumbles, triggered the higher Pro Bowl tier. His option jumped to $21.9 million, which would have instantly made him the highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the league, leapfrogging 49ers star Fred Warner’s $21 million average annual value.

The Lions are unwilling to pay that amount under the rigid option structure, even though a negotiated long-term extension could yield a better outcome for both sides. By declining the option, Detroit preserves flexibility to sign Campbell to a deal that properly reflects his positional market rather than one inflated by an arbitrary CBA classification.

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Both Players Are Staying

It is worth being direct about what this split does not mean. The Lions have repeatedly stated this offseason that retaining their entire 2023 first-round class, Gibbs, Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta, and safety Brian Branch, is a priority. General manager Brad Holmes reiterated that position as recently as Saturday, following Day 3 of the draft. He specifically described Campbell as a player the organization has long wanted in Detroit.

The decision to decline the option is not a signal that Campbell is leaving. It is a signal that the Lions intend to pay him on terms that make sense for a team trying to sustain a championship contender rather than on terms set by a CBA formula that overvalues his position by conflating it with pass rushers.

With 2026 now the final year of Campbell’s rookie contract and Gibbs entering it under his exercised option, the expectation is that the Lions will have extension conversations with both players before or during training camp. Holmes does not make emotional decisions. He makes calculated ones. Tuesday’s split reflects exactly that.