T.J. Hockenson Signs 4-Year Rookie Contract with Lions Worth Estimated $19.8M

The Detroit Lions announced the signing of tight end T.J. Hockenson to his rookie contract on Thursday. 

Rookie deals are generally pretty straightforward because the collective bargaining agreement lays out the financial details of each pick. As the eighth overall pick, Hockenson will receive an estimated $19.8 million over four years and count for $3.6 million against the salary cap in 2019, per Over the Cap.

Offset language can be a sticking point during negotiations, though. Depending on the terms of the contract, a team may not owe anything to a player if it releases him and he immediately signs elsewhere. By removing offset language, the team would be on the hook for all of the remaining money on the deal regardless.

Joey Bosa and the San Diego Chargers famously had a protracted standoff over the offset language in his contract after the team selected him third overall in 2016.

Nothing indicates that was a serious threat for Hockenson and the Lions, but it's still good to hammer out the specifics of his contract early in the offseason.

Having redshirted in 2016, Hockenson only played two years for Iowa. He caught 73 passes for 1,080 yards and nine touchdowns in 23 games. While those numbers don't jump off the page, context is important. Hockenson shared the field with Noah Fant, whom the Denver Broncos selected 20th overall.

One look at Hockenson's highlight reel shows why the Lions felt good selecting him so high in the draft:

TJ Hockenson Highlights Alert V2

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller ranked Hockenson as the top tight end in the 2019 draft class and compared him to four-time Pro Bowler Travis Kelce.

The parallels to Rob Gronkowski were inevitable as soon as Detroit made the Hawkeyes star the newest addition to its offense. Although Matt Patricia specialized in the defensive side of the game, he had plenty of firsthand experience with Gronkowski with the New England Patriots.

The Lions made a relatively big investment at tight end earlier in the offseason when they signed Jesse James to a four-year, $22.6 million deal that included $10.5 million guaranteed. Patricia seemingly envisions running a lot of two-tight end sets.

After watching Eric Ebron for four mostly underwhelming seasons, some fans were probably disappointed to see the team select another tight end in the top 10. Hockenson should erase any skepticism in short order as a rookie.