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July 21, 2025 • 15 mins

On this episode of the Detroit Koolaid Cast we talk all things Detroit Lions. DRINK IT INNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!


#DetroitKoolaidCast #Lions #Podcast #OnePride


@DerekOkrie & @ChopsInTheD on Twitter


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Just give me that kool-aid. kool-aid drinkers, it's your boy
at shops in the D coming at you for another delicious Honolulu
blue flavored kool-aid. Say it for me 3 times.
What do you got to say man? Drink it in, man.
Oh, you know, we got to serve that up with some cornbread.
Cornbread. Make it a double cornbread.

(00:26):
And I'm coming at you today, Youknow, the host and I decided
that dollars make sense is, you know, it's it's been a it's been
a staple of this show for many, many years.
And it seemed this year just to kind of be dragging on a little
bit because we got a lot of the same players returning back.
You know, we've been hitting them up on the flagship show.

(00:47):
We've been touching base on themon the kool-aid packets Today.
We're just going to, I'm going to break it down for you and
just give you one single position.
And that's going to be the safeties.
We're going to talk about dollars that make sense for our
Detroit Lions. And you know how we do.
We don't have time to mess around.
I mean, I could play drops for you all day.
Hey, listen, Ohio State sucks, OK?

(01:14):
You know, I'm going to make timeto play that drop just because I
like to play that drop. And it's about time for some
football hashtag go blue. But today we're going to dive
into the safeties. And this is actually a pretty
nice little packet for a little position group here for a
packet. Of course, when we talk about
the safeties for the Lions, we go right into the top dog, the
man, the myth, the legend, the curb stomp, the ball hawk Kirby

(01:39):
Joseph who signed a nice four year 86 $1,000,000 contract
that. But the great news is is that
contract actually doesn't kick in until 2026.
So in 2025 folks, oh boy, this dollar makes a whole lot of
sense. His cap hit this year is only
$3.8 million. That is a phenomenal deal for

(02:05):
the best safety in the NFL in myhumble opinion.
Kirby Joseph just, you know, a great, a great player.
He's been leading the league since he came into the league.
Let's dive into this contract that doesn't kick in till 2026,
though a little bit before we start really diving into Kirby
Joseph. It's a pretty unique contract.
So it actually has four voided years at the end in 20, 2030

(02:31):
through 2033. And So what that means is that
his cap hit is very, very uniqueleading up for the for the
draft. So he's got a cap hit of only
5.8 in 2026. It goes up to 9.1 in 2027 and
then jumps up to 13 million in 2028 with the final year at

(02:52):
$17.9 million. So at no point in time does his
actually cap hit equal his AVV, which is right around $21.5
million. That's a pretty shrewd move if
you ask me from Brad always openfor business homes.
He knows the cap in 2030 is going to be like, oh gosh, who

(03:13):
knows, 420 million, Who knows what it'll be at that point in
time. It's going to be something
crazy. But he has deferred a lot of
that contract out to the future when he knows the cap is going
to be crazy big. So I absolutely love this
contract. I think it makes a lot of sense.
It's you're getting the best safety in the game at a very
reasonable rate, more than a reasonable rate, almost a

(03:34):
downright steal in 2025, that 3.8 million.
I want to talk a little bit though, before we dive into our
next guy. I want to talk about where Kirby
Joseph ranks, where his, where his salary ranks in this coming
upcoming year. So when you're talking about cap
hits and you're talking about safeties, you've got guys like

(03:56):
Derwin James making 23 million against the cap, Sneed 22, Jesse
Bates 22 mil, Xavier McKinney 17mil, and Minka Fitzpatrick at
15.5 mil. Those are all cap hit numbers
for the safeties in the game that all hail in comparison to
my boy Kirby Joseph. So getting him at that 3.8

(04:20):
million this year is just absolutely ridiculous.
We know his total value contractright now is is the highest in
the league. That 86,000,000 total contract
is the biggest of any safety in the NFL.
Same thing with his contract APYagain at that 21.5 it's the
highest but we Brad Holmes was always able to do some Holmes

(04:42):
cooking and make sure that that really doesn't crush us in the
in the back half. The crazy thing is, is his
guaranteed money is actually 4thbehind Sneed, Winfield and
James. So his 36 million guaranteed on
that contract, even though it's the biggest contract at 86, that
36 only if it is only part that's guaranteed.

(05:03):
And that's actually not too bad.It's top 4.
So a great move by by our RGM there.
And again, you know, I want to dive into some of these stats of
Kirby Joseph since he's been in this league.
Like it's just ridiculous for a guy.
I mean, he led the league in interceptions in 2024 with 9 led
the NFL and it has led the NFL with interceptions since he was

(05:26):
drafted in 20. 22 was 17. I mean, that's a hell of a
player. That's a hell of a deal.
You know when you've got these other safeties that are making
15,000,000 in 2025 plus all the way up to 22 million.
Kirby Joseph had 3.8 is almost laughable.
Next up on the list, this is a player that we like to go back

(05:48):
and forth. You know, the host of the show
likes to call a my boy Brian Branch.
But of course, I think we all know that he's my boy because,
well, not only does he have the best name in football, the first
first name in football, but thisdude is just an absolute beast.
Total compliment to Kirby Joseph.

(06:08):
But we'll get into some of that other stuff.
But right now, I want to dive into his contract here.
He's still, he's in year three of his rookie deal.
He's making that rookie deal wasa total of $8 million / 4 years.
That's right folks, Brian Branch, BB, the his current cap
hit for 2025 is $2.1 million. That is absolutely insane

(06:31):
valuable value for a dude that is, in my opinion, part of the
best safety duo in the NFL. You know, BB is not the ball
hawk that Kirby Joseph is, but dude, this dude is just a
tackling machine and he loves tocover.
In two seasons he's able to play31 games.
He's at 183 tackles, 129 of themsolo tackles, 7 picks, 29 past

(06:57):
passes defended. That's that's crazy to me.
I mean, this guy, he does get his hands on the ball like more
than you think. You don't necessarily strike him
as a ball hawk, but the guy justhe, he is such, so great in
coverage. 2 force fumbles and two sacks to add to that
repertoire of stats. This is just a dude that loves
football. He loves to hit.
You know, again, tackling machine.

(07:19):
He is the perfect compliment to Kirby Joseph.
So you know, I the next thing I want to do is I want to talk
about, and this isn't necessarily a dollars that makes
sense for 2025, but I want to dive into a little bit about
what that next contract might look like for Brian Branch.
You know that Brad Holmes has been rubbing his meat hooks

(07:41):
together, thinking about what he's going to do, how he's going
to pay this man. So I want to, I want to do a
little bit of a little prediction here, a little in the
Yeah, three in the prediction, which actually hopefully happens
in the year 2025. But I fully expect Brian Branch
to get a pretty similar deal to Kirby Joseph.

(08:03):
You know how that funny money voided years go on the back end,
but the price is going to continue to go up.
And I would not be surprised to see Brian Branch signing some a
four year deal somewhere in that$90,000,000 range.
I fully expect a a good 40 million of that to be guaranteed
too. So maybe a little bit more than
Kirby Joseph guaranteed money for my boy Brian Branch.

(08:28):
So folks, we got to enjoy these two duos here.
Again, combined cap hit of like what?
What did I say $5.9 million combined cap hit for the the
best safety duo in the NFL is a hell of a steal.
Enjoy it this year because that is going to go skyrocketing in
2026 and then beyond when Brian Branch gets locked in with that

(08:52):
with that new contract. I want to go on a little side
tangent here. Let's I want to move move away
from the dollars that make sensefor just a second here.
And I want people to think aboutthis and maybe appreciate this.
As I was talking about the the safety duo, the best duo in the
NFL, it kind of struck me that it is absolutely crazy that the

(09:14):
Lions might have three of the best positional duos in the NFL
in 2025. Of course, we've already talked
about the safeties. I'm pretty sure that it's it's a
pretty much a no brainer that D and you know, JA, I'm not going
to steal the the host gimmick. I'm not going to go it.

(09:35):
I'm not going to OK, mate, I'll do it.
But he is definitely elite and those two are the best running
back duo in the NFL. So we got the safety duo
lockdown, we got the running back duo lockdown and dare I say
I think there's a really strong case and a big argument to be
made that Hamara and #jamo fast.Hang on, let me hit the drop

(09:59):
here. Where's Stash in the ATL when I
need them? Let me let me get let me see if
I can find Stash here. Where's he at?
We, we got it. We got to give him the
opportunity to, to say it here. There it is Stash.
I have a strong case for these two being the best wide receiver
duo in the NFL as well. Now I know people will go, but

(10:19):
Chappie, what about Chase and T Higgins?
And The thing is mostly that is pretty much because Chase is
such a beast. And I am not downplaying Chase
as a beast at all. But man, for my money and for
the, for the, I think the lion'standem of #jamo fast and I'm on

(10:39):
raw ARSB is actually collectively complementary,
better and a better wide receiving duo than any other duo
in the NFL. And it just really just, you
know, again, everything from ARBSBS amazing hands, his yak
ability, you know, you add that with Jamo's speed, I think those

(11:00):
two guys just complement each other and I think they're really
the best 1-2 combo in the NFL. And so again, it just it I hope
you guys enjoy how spoiled we are with these Lions right now
with all these great position players.
It's it's a great time to be a Lions fan.
Yes, we were long-suffering, butman, these last three years have

(11:20):
been really, really fun and I can't wait to see what happens
in 2025. All right, folks, let's get back
to the safeties, the dollars. That makes sense.
We got five other players there and of course, after the top
two, it really just kind of comes down to ho hum, whoop Dee
Doo Basil. Who else do we got out here

(11:42):
after those top two guys? The reality is with the NFL,
though, if you're going to have two absolute studs who are going
to eventually get his aid at that position, if any position
really, you're going to have to be able to be shrewd.
You're going to have to be able to get some bargain bin players
that will have to be under the radar, but are going to need to
step up when they're called uponto to fill a need.

(12:05):
So the the next three, again, all these dudes making under
1,000,000 bucks. You got Lauren Strickland
AT960K, you got the rookie Dan Jackson AT872K, you got Ian
Kenley 843 K Eric a lot AT840K. And then you know the guy I like
to call Morris Norris, even though I think it's Maurice, but

(12:29):
840K dude. The, the, the funny part about
this is that like none of these guys have played more than like
3 games. Lauren Jackson second season
coming out of Ball State. I think he dressed a few games
last year, but no snaps, nothingto speak of.
Dan Jackson again, we seventh round pick this year.

(12:50):
This is a guy that Oakley has quickly fallen in love with.
I really think he hopes that DanJackson can be the number three
safety behind that top 2 duo. I'd like to see that as well.
You got Ian Kenley, the UDFA rookie out of Grand Valley
State, again, hoping that this guy can kind of lock down, maybe
fall into that 3-4 spot. Eric a Lot was a six round pick

(13:12):
out of Jacksonville in 2023. Has not played a single game in
the NFL. So we don't really know what we
have there. And then Maurice Norris, second
year out of Fresno State, he wasforced into action.
I believe he played a few snaps in the regular season, but
definitely had was called upon in that playoff game against
Washington when I think that Brian Branch had to miss a few

(13:33):
snaps or maybe it was curveball,I can't remember.
But he came into Washington, I think he had like 3 tackles,
nothing really to speak of, but I think it was his only game of
the season where he actually gotsome real action.
So folks, the the drop off thereis pretty dramatic after those
top 2, but that's how the NFL works, man.
Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph have to keep balling.

(13:55):
We got to hope that one of theseother safeties can, when called
upon, can ball out. But if you ask me, the fact that
we've got 7 players at locked inat $10.4 million, that's only
3.5% of the cat people. Our safeties are the the numbers
in 2025 are a hell of a lot of dollars that make some great
sense. Kudos to Brad Holmes for locking

(14:19):
it down and, and just again, enjoy it people, because those
numbers are going to keep going up and up and up with these
bigger contracts. All right, folks, I hope you
enjoyed the kool-aid packet. You know how we do.
We're going to keep giving you live action three days a week.
We got the kool-aid packets. We got the flagship show.
You know, my boy, the host, Derek Oakley, has been keeping

(14:42):
it down, locking down the Fort while I've been all over the
place, taking vacations, camping, travelling for work,
coaching hockey games, all that fun stuff.
You got to appreciate and respect the commish, The host of
the show, Derek Okri, keeping itlive for you guys, giving you
that contact, serving the kool-aid.
What else can I say? Whoa #choppy likey.

(15:04):
And maybe, let me just maybe, I'll give you the real thing.
Whoo, whee #choppy likey. These safeties make a lot of
sense.
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