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The Detroit Lions have their first-round draft pick under contract.
Tyleik Williams, the No. 28 pick in this year’s NFL draft, signed his slotted four-year contract on Wednesday, May 21, according to the team via social media. The fully-guaranteed deal is worth $16.48 million and includes a $8.625 million signing bonus, according to OverTheCap.com.
Williams is expected to play a key role this fall on a Lions defensive line that dealt with major injury woes last season.
CLASS OF 2025, PART 1: What Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes said about 2025 NFL draft class and what it means
Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Alim McNeill, Mekhi Wingo and Kyle Peko finished last season on injured reserve, and McNeill is expected to miss the start of this season while recovering from a torn ACL.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes compared Williams to McNeill after turning down trade offers to move out of the No. 28 pick, with one of the trade offers coming from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at No. 32.
Holmes said Williams, one of the best run defenders in college football last season and a key cog on Ohio State’s national championship-winning defense, “has a lot of traits and qualities that we're looking for and he's going to fit right in here like a glove.”
“He's a good kid,” Holmes said. “He's mild-mannered. He doesn't say a lot. He's more about his business, but he fits in right in, not only just from the physical qualities, but he's going to fit in with the other standards that we have around here.”
CLASS OF 2025, Part 2: How Brad Holmes' 5 years at HBCU North Carolina A&T set him on path to Detroit Lions GM
Williams had eight tackles for loss in 13 games for the Buckeyes last season and played some of his best football in the playoffs. He joins a defensive tackle rotation in Detroit that should feature D.J. Reader, Levi Onwuzurike and Roy Lopez, until McNeill returns.
“I just want to go in and learn,” Williams said at his introductory news conference after the draft. “That's really all I'm planning to do, learn from the older guys, the vets, so help me succeed and stay in the league as long as him, hopefully.”
The Lions made seven picks in this year’s draft: Williams in Round 1, Georgia guard Tate Ratledge in Round 2, Arkansas receiver Isaac TeSlaa in Round 3, LSU guard Miles Frazier in Round 5, Boise State edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein in Round 6 and Georgia safety Dan Jackson and Georgia receiver Dominic Lovett in Round 7.
They signed all four of their Day 3 picks — Frazier, Hassanein, Jackson and Lovett — before the start of rookie minicamp in May. TeSlaa signed his deal earlier this week, leaving Ratledge as the Lions' only unsigned draft pick in this year's class.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions sign first-round pick Tyleik Williams
Continue reading...
Tyleik Williams, the No. 28 pick in this year’s NFL draft, signed his slotted four-year contract on Wednesday, May 21, according to the team via social media. The fully-guaranteed deal is worth $16.48 million and includes a $8.625 million signing bonus, according to OverTheCap.com.
Williams is expected to play a key role this fall on a Lions defensive line that dealt with major injury woes last season.
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CLASS OF 2025, PART 1: What Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes said about 2025 NFL draft class and what it means
Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Alim McNeill, Mekhi Wingo and Kyle Peko finished last season on injured reserve, and McNeill is expected to miss the start of this season while recovering from a torn ACL.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes compared Williams to McNeill after turning down trade offers to move out of the No. 28 pick, with one of the trade offers coming from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at No. 32.
Holmes said Williams, one of the best run defenders in college football last season and a key cog on Ohio State’s national championship-winning defense, “has a lot of traits and qualities that we're looking for and he's going to fit right in here like a glove.”
“He's a good kid,” Holmes said. “He's mild-mannered. He doesn't say a lot. He's more about his business, but he fits in right in, not only just from the physical qualities, but he's going to fit in with the other standards that we have around here.”
CLASS OF 2025, Part 2: How Brad Holmes' 5 years at HBCU North Carolina A&T set him on path to Detroit Lions GM
Williams had eight tackles for loss in 13 games for the Buckeyes last season and played some of his best football in the playoffs. He joins a defensive tackle rotation in Detroit that should feature D.J. Reader, Levi Onwuzurike and Roy Lopez, until McNeill returns.
“I just want to go in and learn,” Williams said at his introductory news conference after the draft. “That's really all I'm planning to do, learn from the older guys, the vets, so help me succeed and stay in the league as long as him, hopefully.”
The Lions made seven picks in this year’s draft: Williams in Round 1, Georgia guard Tate Ratledge in Round 2, Arkansas receiver Isaac TeSlaa in Round 3, LSU guard Miles Frazier in Round 5, Boise State edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein in Round 6 and Georgia safety Dan Jackson and Georgia receiver Dominic Lovett in Round 7.
They signed all four of their Day 3 picks — Frazier, Hassanein, Jackson and Lovett — before the start of rookie minicamp in May. TeSlaa signed his deal earlier this week, leaving Ratledge as the Lions' only unsigned draft pick in this year's class.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions sign first-round pick Tyleik Williams
Continue reading...
