The Detroit Lions made Jahmyr Gibbs a solo act with a trade, and probably will have to pay him as such. And Gibbs said farewell to David Montgomery with a “Sonic and Knuckles” tribute, according to a post on Instagram via a post on X by Ari Meirov.

Gibbs has been fantastic, even with Montgomery in the backfield to share the football. He has scored double-digit touchdowns in each of his first three NFL seasons. Gibbs had 20 scores in 2024 and added 18 last year.

What will Lions look like with Jahmyr Gibbs in 2026?

Montgomery didn’t provide as much interference for Gibbs’ workland last season. He carried a career-low 158 times for 716 yards.

Still, this could be an incredible season for the Lions’ offense as they unleash Gibbs. Although they indeed used him plenty last season. He carried 234 times for 1,223 yards while also catching 77 passes for 616 yards.

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He could command the highest contract of any running back in the NFL. The Lions may have to fork over $60 million over three seasons.

That’s going to be a challenge for a team that has other players to consider for contracts, like linebacker Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta, and defensive back Brian Branch.

Lions GM Brad Holmes said he knows the road, according to detroitnews.com.

“There is only one budget. It’s only one pot,” Holmes said. “When you take the philosophy of draft, develop, and retain. Well, the word retain means pay. You've got to pay the money, all right? You don’t have your own retain player budget, and then a separate external free-agent budget. The more you retain, the smaller that budget (four outside free agents) becomes.

“And then it’s, ‘Well, how much additional resources do you have going forward? And look, there’s a lot of different timelines and levers that we’ll have at our disposal, but those are all players … (from the 2023 class) that we see as key pieces that we want to keep around for a long time.”