First-round pick Eric Ebron has officially signed his contract with the Lions, according to a tweet from the tight end himself. Ebron posted a photo of him putting pen to paper, announcing that it’s a “done deal.” The move ensures that Detroit now has its entire 2014 draft class under contract.
Ebron, 21, was viewed as far and away the best tight end prospect in this year’s draft class after racking up 973 receiving yards on 62 receptions during his junior year at North Carolina in 2013. Still, it was a bit of a surprise when the Lions selected him with the 10th overall pick last month — the team already committed a significant portion of its offseason spending to pass-catchers to complement Calvin Johnson, having signed Golden Tate and Brandon Pettigrew to long-term deals. The Ravens were reportedly very interested if the UNC product had lasted a little longer in the first round.
The eight and final Lions draftee to ink his deal, Ebron will be in line for a signing bonus of more than $7.228MM, per Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap. The four-year value of the contract, which includes a fifth-year team option, will be about $12.249MM. We’ll have to wait to hear details about possible offsets, but the pact will likely be fully guaranteed.
It was believed that the Lions would have to rework another player’s deal to create cap space to formally sign Ebron, so we’ll see if any corresponding moves are reported today. Ndamukong Suh is the most notable restructure candidate on the roster, but the club wouldn’t necessarily have had to do something with his contract in particular in order to sign Ebron.