Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was among a hand full of players around the NFL that missed the early part of OTAs. There were a lot of guys like Vikings’ Justin Jefferson or Bengals’ receiver Tee Higgins that held out looking for a new contract. There was some that believed that St. Brown might be doing the same thing, but it just didn’t seem to fit what we know about the receiver.
St. Brown was on the Pivot podcast on Tuesday and he talked about a lot of things from not wanting to be drafted by the Lions to his life growing up and much more. It’s worth a watch or listen for sure. St. Brown was asked about what it felt like to sign his new deal and in that explanation he confirmed what we already knew about OTAs.
“I didn’t go to OTAs to begin with and it wasn’t because of the contract. I just felt like, you know, the first part of OTAs, we’re not even with the coaches or running on the field. It’s just lifting, so I feel like I can get more work here, back home than I can back in Detroit. This is my first time missing any OTAs, but I called coach Campbell and let him know, coach Randle El. Called them both and told them it had nothing to do with the contract, I just feel I can get better work back home and they understood it.”
So there you go. That answers that. The Lions did wind up signing St. Brown do a huge deal a short while later before the 2024 NFL Draft and he showed up in the later phase of OTAs and participated every day. It was not a holdout strategy since St. Brown also said the Lions and his agent had been working on a new deal since the end of the 2023 season.