David Montgomery Becomes Seventh-Highest Paid Running Back

The Detroit Lions are retaining a key part of their ground attack. Per Adam Schefter, the Lions have officially signed David Montgomery to a two-year contract extension. The deal is reportedly worth $18.25 million with $10.5 million in new guaranteed money. The deal will make the former Chicago Bears running back the seventh-highest paid running back in the entire NFL. After Week Six, Montgomery and the Detroit Lions are 4-1 after an impressive 47-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. A game that saw David Montgomery log two rushing touchdowns on 12 carries for 80 rushing yards. He also averaged 6.7 yards per carry in said matchup and recorded a catch in the win. This just adds to what is already an impressive year for David Montgomery.

David Montgomery Inks Two-Year Contract Extension With Detroit Lions 

David Montgomery’s Impact 

Coming into the game against Dallas, the former Iowa State product has scored four times on the ground and also had nine catches on the year. On top of this, Montgomery had also tallied 67.8 rushing yards per game, 4.3 rushing yards per attempt, and a rushing success rate of 60.3 percent. For his Detroit Lions tenure, he had logged 77 rushing touchdowns, 1,286 rushing yards, and 71.4 rushing yards per game coming into Week Six.

In the two years with the Lions, Montgomery has formed one of the most dynamic backfields alongside the young, Jahmyr Gibbs. While the entire Lions offense has been on fire as of late, David Montgomery has been spearheading Detroit’s ground attack in a huge way. Gibbs may be their back of the future. However, David Montgomery has been the tone-setter in the first part of the regular season. Considering this, the Detroit front office was comfortable granting the sixth-year running back a two-year extension.

A Key Staple to Detroit’s Offensive Attack 

As alluded to earlier, David Montgomery is one of the “glue,” guys for the Lions’ offense. Coming into Week Six, Detroit ranked seventh in rushing yards per game (151.3), third in total yards per game (397.0), and third in first downs per game (22.8). With an offense loaded with weapons such as Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, and of course, David Montgomery, opposing defenses are often left confused trying to guess which attack the team will utilize. However, David Montgomery is more important to Detroit’s offensive success than one would think. Without him, the Lions could often become one dimensional and Jahmyr Gibbs’ development would not be as advanced as it is right now. All in all, the contract extension makes a lot of sense for the Lions and Montgomery.