The Detroit Lions got the first of their seven draft picks under contract Thursday, the day before the start of rookie minicamp.
Defensive tackle Alim McNeill, the Lions’ third-round pick out of North Carolina State, signed a four-year contract worth $5.1 million.
Rookie deals are slotted under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, but third-round picks have some wiggle room on base salaries after Year 1.
McNeill, the eighth pick of the third round, maximized his deal, which includes a $1.09 million signing bonus and base salaries that escalate from $660,000 this fall to $1.334 million in 2024. He also has $25,000 workout bonuses in 2022-24.
The Lions took Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell with the seventh overall pick, and fortified their defensive line with their next two selections, Washington’s Levi Onwuzurike and McNeill.
McNeill, 6 feet 2 and 330 pounds, projects as an athletic nose tackle for the Lions. He had 10 sacks in three seasons at N.C. State and was a first-team All-ACC selection last season.
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“For a big nose tackle (he is) powerful at the point of attack,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said. “He has a lot of upside, he has quickness. He has the ability to do some stuff inside in sub nickel stuff, so he has some upside as a rusher as well. Just to be able to add these two key cogs on the middle of our defense is a huge (thing for us).”
Historically, the Lions have signed most of their rookies before the start of minicamp.
They still six unsigned picks: Sewell, Onwuzurike, late-round choice Ifeatu Melifonwu, fourth-rounders Amon-Ra St. Brown and Derrick Barnes, and seventh-rounder Jermar Jefferson.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.