Detroit Lions sign third-round pick Julian Okwara to 4-year deal

The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday morning that third-round pick Julian Okwara has signed his rookie deal with the team.

The deal, according to Spotrac, is for four years and worth $4.9 million with a guaranteed signing bonus of $1.4 million. His cap hit for 2020 will just be $895,784. All of this is standard with the rookie wage scale.

Okwara is the third Lions’ 2020 draft pick to officially be under contract with the team, joining fourth-round pick Logan Stenberg and sixth-round pick John Penisini.

Okwara was recently in town with his brother, Romeo, to participate in Friday’s Belle Isle Freedom March.

The Notre Dame product is expected to add some pass rushing talent to a team that struggled to pressure the quarterback last year. Okwara posted an 18.4 percent pressure rate from PFF since 2018, which tied him for the highest mark among all edge defenders in this year’s class. Meanwhile, the Lions had the worst team pass rush win rate in 2019, according to ESPN.

Six Lions draft picks remain unsigned, including their first two picks: Jeff Okudah and D’Andre Swift. However, given the standard rookie wage scale, there is no current reason to be concerned about their current statuses.