The Detroit Lions originally offered Brock Wright a one-year, $2.985 million restricted free agent tender this offseason. However, the young tight end decided to test the market to see what his value is after three successful years in Detroit. The San Francisco 49ers came calling and offered what appeared to be a significant raise: a contract that was originally reported as a three-year, $12 million deal with $6 million in guarantees.

The Lions had to choose whether to match that deal or let him walk. They opted to keep him around, matching the contract the 49ers put together for the formerly undrafted tight end. And now that we have the contract details of said deal, we can see why the Lions matched it.

Here are the details, as provided by Over The Cap:

Brock Wright: 3 years, $12 million — $3.545 million signing bonus
2024:

$1,055,000 base salary (guaranteed)
$709,000 in prorated signing bonus
$50,000 workout bonus
$1,764,000 cap hit
2025:

$1,170,000 base salary
$709,000 in prorated signing bonus
$445,000 option bonus
$255,000 roster bonus
$50,000 workout bonus
$2,629,000 cap hit
2026:

$3,310,000 base salary
$709,000 in prorated signing bonus
$445,000 option bonus
$340,000 roster bonus
$50,000 workout bonus
$4,854,000 cap hit
$2,127,000 dead cap if cut
2027 (voided)

$1,418,000 in dead cap (two signing bonus prorations)
As you can see above, the cap hit for the next two years is actually well under what it would have been if Wright had simply signed his RFA tender of one year, $2.985 million. The contract utilizes voided years to spread out the signing bonus for Wright, and the use of unguaranteed option, roster, and workout bonuses give Wright plenty of motivation to keep performing at a high level.

Obviously, the third year in Wright’s contract represents a pretty significant raise. And while there’s certainly a chance Wright earns that $3.3 million salary, most players don’t earn the final year of their deal.

Even then, the Lions are in relatively good shape: the out in the contract is built so they would only incur $2.127 million in dead cap if they cut him after two years. So if you combine the first two years of cap with with the dead cap of Year 3, you’re talking about a two-year, $6.52 million contract, which sounds far more tolerable and fair than a three-year, $12 million deal.

In the end, good on Wright for locking up far more guaranteed money and an extra year of job security. And good on the Lions for matching a fair deal that will only cost them slightly more than their original offer—and not leave them in search of filling an immediate need at tight end in the upcoming draft.