Detroit Lions free agency: What it would cost for Detroit to keep Kevin Zeitler, Ifeatu Melifonwu and 12 others
The free agency craziness begins next week and everyone is going to be wondering what the Detroit Lions are going to do. Before that actually goes down, the Lions may be looking to keep some of their own free agents. We wanted to talk about what those guys may cost to hold on to. Here […]
The free agency craziness begins next week and everyone is going to be wondering what the Detroit Lions are going to do. Before that actually goes down, the Lions may be looking to keep some of their own free agents. We wanted to talk about what those guys may cost to hold on to.
Here are projected costs for 14 of the Lions' free agents. We worked with cap expert Joshua Queipo on this project. We highly recommend you subscribe to his Substack ahead of free agency if you love contract stuff.
Let's jump into it.
| Player | Years | Average Per Year | Total Value | 2025 cap hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kevin Zeitler | 1 | $7,750,000 | $7,750,000 | $7,750,000 |
Levi Onwuzrike | 2 | $14,000,000 | $28,000,000 | $14,000,000 |
Ifeatu Melifonwu | 1 | $3,750,000 | $3,750,000 | $3,750,000 |
Derrick Barnes | 1 | $4,250,000 | $4,250,000 | $4,250,000 |
Dan Skipper | 1 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
Ben Niemann | 1 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 |
Pat O’Connor | 1 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 |
Craig Reynolds | 1 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 |
Kindle Vildor | 1 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 |
Khalil Dorsey | 1 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 |
Trevor Nowaske | 1 | $1,030,000 | $1,030,000 | $1,030,000 |
Connor Galvin | 1 | $1,030,000 | $1,030,000 | $1,030,000 |
Myles Adams | 1 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 | $1,170,000 |
Kayode Awosika | 1 | 1,100,000 | 1,100,000 | 1,100,000 |
Ok, let's talk about what we've got here. You can see that the Lions don't have a lot of long-term deals for guys we think they plan to bring back, and that might initially feel kind of weird, but the Lions don't really have any premier players hitting the market this year because they've already worked to retain those guys.
So it really comes down to a few key things here. Age, free agent type, injury history, and what level of play these guys might be able to add to Detroit.
On the age side of things, Zeitler is the big fish for Detroit's pending free agents outside of Carlton Davis, who we believe will get a three-year $43 million deal elsewhere. Zeitler will be 35 years old later this week. It's not likely he gets more than a one-year deal even if he leaves.
On the injury side of things, both Ifeatu Melifonwu and Derrick Barnes may feel like they should maybe get longer terms and more money to Lions fans, but we're talking about two players that have to prove it in 2025.
Melifonwu has still yet to put together a full season of really good play and 2025 was not great for him after being put on the injured reserve list twice. Barnes had a great 2023, but then he only played three games in 2024.
In terms of type, there's a lot of restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents on the team, and they're all largely going to get the same amount.
