1 Lions player ranked in top 50 NFL merchandise sale, and it’s not who you think

Earlier in the offseason, we noted that Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford ranked in the top 15 in jersey sales according to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Unfortunately, when it comes to full merchandise sales for official NFL apparel, neither Stafford nor any Lions player were among the league’s most profitable.

This week, the NFLPA dropped the list of the 50 players with the most merchandise sales between March 1 and May 31, and no Lions player made the list... well, with an asterisk. No Lions player that was on the team last year is on the list.

Surprisingly, coming in at No. 49 is running back LeGarrette Blount. While it’s almost certain that Blount is on the list with a little help from the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles—who also had six other players on the list—this list only includes sales from March and beyond. Blount signed with the Lions on March 16, so it’s likely a good portions of these sales are coming from Detroit fans.

It’s also pretty surprising considering Blount only signed a one-year deal in Detroit, while the Lions added a rookie running back who’s almost certainly going to stick around for at least the next four year. Kerryon Johnson did not make the list, but one other rookie running back did: Saquon Barkley came in at No. 4. Of course, Johnson was drafted in late April, so he only had a month to crack the list.

As for Stafford, he’s clearly lost some steam from last year. In 2017’s version of the list, Stafford came in at 15th in merchandise sales. This year, he didn’t make the list over these quarterbacks: Nick Foles (1), Tom Brady (2), Carson Wentz (3), Dak Prescott (5), Aaron Rodgers (6), Jimmy Garoppolo (8), Derek Carr (10), Marcus Mariota (12), Russell Wilson (15), Kirk Cousins (16), Sam Darnold (20), Cam Newton (25), Drew Brees (26), Ben Roethlisberger (29), Baker Mayfield (30), Matt Ryan (36), Josh Allen (38), Deshaun Watson (42), Mitchell Trubisky (47), Eli Manning (48).

Golden Tate, who also made the list in 2017 (33), was not among the top 50 this year.