Romeo Okwara is staying in Detroit Lions after his breakout 2020 season, agreeing to a three-year deal worth $39 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Okwara will get $25 million when he officially signs the contract, a massive payday for a player the Lions claimed off the waiver wire after roster cutdowns in 2018 from the New York Giants. Okwara almost immediately became an impact player for Detroit.
He had 7.5 sacks in his first year as a full-time starter in the NFL. After a down 2019, he rebounded with 10 sacks in 2020, setting him up for a big free-agency haul. This move also keeps him with his brother, Julian Okwara, whom the Lions drafted out of Notre Dame last year.
Over his five NFL seasons — three in Detroit and two with the Giants — Okwara started 28 games with 20 sacks, five forced fumbles, four passes defended and a fumble recovery.
Okwara prepared for his breakout 2020 season in an unconventional way due to the COVID-19 pandemic, working out daily at a friend’s house in California. To prepare, he and Las Vegas Raiders linebacker James Onwualu used whatever they could find to train, including water jugs and a keg they found on Craigslist for presses.
Born in Nigeria, raised in North Carolina and educated at Notre Dame, Okwara found a passion for photography. His photos from Rescue 2 in Brooklyn — a project he started when he was with the Giants and finished when he was with the Lions — were displayed in the Leica Store gallery in New York City in the fall of 2019.
