Contract Status of Detroit Lions' Running Backs in 2024

Lions will return starting running back duo in 2024.

The Lions’ ground game had a very successful season in 2023. 

The team's running back tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for a staggering 23 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 yards on the ground (1,960). Gibbs, as a rookie, accounted for 945 of those rushing yards, while Montgomery, in his first season in Detroit, eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground (1,015).  

Detroit's run game should be in good hands once again next season, with both of them under contract for 2024. 

There's also a good chance that Craig Reynolds, the primary backup to Gibbs and Montgomery in 2023, will return for another year in Motown.

Let's take a peek at the contract status of the running backs that spent 2023 with the Lions. 

Jahmyr Gibbs

Gibbs, a first-year pro in 2023, is signed with Detroit through 2026, and carries with him a cap hit of $4,055,713 in 2024. 

He has $14,600,568 in guarantees remaining on his rookie contract.

David Montgomery 

The veteran back is signed with the team through 2025, and carries with him a cap hit of $6,786,765 in 2024. 

He has $6,375,000 in guarantees remaining on his current deal (which he inked last offseason).

Craig Reynolds

Reynolds spent the 2023 campaign as the Lions’ primary reserve back. He'll be an “exclusive rights free agent” this offseason, meaning that he'll only be permitted to negotiate a contract with Detroit unless the organization allows him to explore free agency.

At this present juncture, I believe there's a strong likelihood Reynolds will be back in a Lions uniform in 2024.

Zonovan Knight 

Knight finished the 2023 season on injured reserve, after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5 against Carolina. 

Knight, the one-time N.Y. Jets back, suited up for two games, and logged just three carries (for 13 yards) this past season. 

Just like Reynolds, he'll be an exclusive rights free agent this offseason.

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Jason Cabinda

Cabinda, Detroit's primary fullback, played very minimally at the position in 2023. He logged just 20 snaps (down from 64 a season ago), and recorded just one carry. 

He also did play on special teams this past season. So, Cabinda does bring value to the Lions without lining up at fullback. 

He'll be a “street free agent” this offseason, which is a player who was under contract with an NFL team in 2023 but not on a team's active roster at season’s end. Subsequently, the Penn State product will be free to immediately sign with any NFL franchise at the start of free agency.

Jermar Jefferson 

Hopefully you didn't forget about Jefferson. 

The Lions’ seventh-round draft pick in 2021 (No. 257 overall) hasn’t played a down in an NFL game since his rookie season. Yet, he's still been a member of the organization since then. 

Jefferson, who finished the ‘23 campaign on injured reserve, is signed to a “futures contract.” A futures deal is a contract signed by street free agents, such as Jefferson, which doesn't count against the salary cap until the beginning of free agency.

Jefferson will cost the Lions a cap hit of $915,000 in 2024.

Jake Funk 

Funk, a seventh-round pick of the L.A. Rams in 2021, suited up for four games with the Colts in 2023. He logged two rushing attempts for 10 yards. 

He finished the ‘23 campaign, however, as a member of Detroit's practice squad. Just like Jefferson, he's signed to a futures contract, and he'll cost $1,055,000 against the cap this upcoming season.

Mohamed Ibrahim

Ibrahim joined the Lions as a highly-coveted undrafted free agent last offseason. 

His rookie season never truly got off the ground, though. He suffered a dislocated hip in his very first game as a member of the Lions’ active roster (Week 7 against Baltimore), and never played another snap after that. 

Ibrahim ended the year on injured reserve, and is officially a street free agent headed into the offseason. So, his future in the Motor City is certainly in doubt.