Brad Holmes, the general manager of the Detroit Lions, has made a name for himself as one of the NFL’s top talent scouts. Holmes has
contributed several essential components to the organization in three drafts.
Now, this offseason, the players from his first Draft will be available for extensions. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill, and Penei
Sewell are among the top contenders for extensions. If the Lions choose to exercise Sewell’s fifth-year option, then his extension will
have to wait another year.
However, the $14 million dead limit that was recently formally established will have an impact on some of these decisions about free
agency and extensions. This resulted from the Friday automatic voiding of seven contracts.
After Isaiah Buggs and Marvin Jones are released in 2023, the Lions will also have dead cap money on the books, according to Over
The Cap. The Lions now have a dead cap of $15.7 million overall.
Over The Cap lists the sum as the fourth highest in the league. Early in the season, Jones went to take care of a personal situation, and
the Lions and he mutually agreed to a release.
After being cut loose, Buggs signed with the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs. He just signed a reserve/futures contract.
At $24.6 million, the Los Angeles Chargers have the largest dead cap total in the league, while the Buccaneers have the lowest, at
$203,678.
This dead money is not surprising to Holmes because these players have void years in their contracts; it is probably budgeted for.
Teddy Bridgewater, Ceedy Duce, Emmanuel Moseley, Charles Harris, Graham Glasgow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and Romeo Okwara
were among the seven players whose contracts were terminated last week.
To spread out their individual cap hits, Bridgewater, Gardner-Johnson, Moseley, and Glasgow all signed one-year contracts in 2023
with void years added.
At $3.8 million, Vaitai has the highest current dead cap hit, while Bridgewater has the lowest at $500,000. Other noteworthy ones are
Duce, who had a $2 million hit, and Okwara, who has a $3.5 million hit.
Even though the contracts of these seven players were terminated on February 16th, they won’t be able to sign free agents until March
13th.
Since this dead cap was been recorded and cannot be removed, Holmes is powerless to change it. The Lions’ dead cap hits will remain
the same even if they are successful in re-signing these guys.
The Lions’ ability to spend in free agency will be limited by this dead cap, but they should still have about $44 million in cap space
when it starts.
With 46 players under contract, the Lions presently have the eighth-most open cap space in the league.
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