Alex Anzalone: 'I Want to Retire With Lions But Disappointed' By Contract Talks
"I want to retire a Lion. I want that opportunity. That's how I feel. I'm disappointed. Let's just say that," Anzalone said on Tuesday morning when asked about his contract talks with the franchise, according to MLive.com. "Disappointed."
Anzalone, who's entering the final season of a three-year, $18.3 million deal and is currently sidelined due to a hamstring injury, said that he made it clear "a while ago" to general manager Brad Holmes and Co. that he wanted a new contract in a situation the linebacker labels as "weird."
The 30-year-old Anzalone – who turns 31 in September – has spent the past four seasons with the Lions (2021-24), most notably averaging 127 combined tackles per season from 2022-23. Last season, Anzalone missed six games due to a broken forearm and one game due to a concussion.
In the 11 regular-season games that he appeared in, Anzalone totaled 63 combined tackles, five passes defended and one sack; he then totaled 13 combined tackles in Detroit's divisional round loss to the Washington Commanders. Anzalone ranked 17th among linebackers with a 73.7 coverage grade, 70th with a 67.8 overall grade, 83rd with a 59.7 pass-rush grade and 148th with a 56.3 run-defense grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
"I put so much into my time here and being a four-time captain and a teammate and the city, and just living here," Anzalone said. "You can list all the reasons. It's just important to me. I love this place. I want that opportunity. I feel like I've done that a lot [play through injuries] through my four years here. I'm just in a situation where it's, you want to be rewarded for that. Or at least in some regard, yeah."
Anzalone, who was selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, was part of a Lions defense that was fifth in the NFL in opponent rushing yards (98.4 per game) and seventh in opponent points (20.1 per game) last season.
Detroit is coming off a 15-2 season but has a new defensive coordinator in former four-year team linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard, who was promoted in the wake of former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn leaving to become the new head coach of the New York Jets.
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