Lions, DeAndre Levy agree to contract extension

On Tuesday, Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew indicated that contract talks with linebacker DeAndre Levy were ongoing, but there wasn't much information beyond that. It sort of felt like this was going to be another situation where the talks took place over a lengthy period of time before there was a real possibility of a deal getting done.

As it turns out, the Lions and Levy must have been pretty close to a deal when Mayhew spoke, because the two sides agreed to a contract extension just one day later:

The #Lions and star LB DeAndre Levy have reached an agreement on a contract extension, I’m told. This was an offseason priority.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 5, 2015

Rand Getlin reports that the extension is for four years. Assuming that's four years on top of the one year Levy had left on his current deal, he will be under contract through the 2019 season.

At this time, there are no salary details available, but chances are Levy will become one of the highest paid 4-3 outside linebackers in the league. He doesn't necessarily have the national accolades to show for it, but Levy has become one of the game's top 4-3 outside linebackers in recent seasons, and he's an important piece in the Lions' defense, especially with the loss of Ndamukong Suh this offseason.

As the summer progressed, extending Levy became one of the Lions' top priorities, and now they can check that off the list with a deal getting done on Wednesday.