This will be a consequential offseason for the Detroit Lions. They’ve got the first part out of the way with their coaching staff, and the next move is to go into free agency and have a big impact. The problem is, when you look at Spotrac or Over the Cap, it looks like the Lions are in absolute cap hell. Like, they’re full in the hole.

The Lions appear to have a negative $8 million right now. How are they supposed to do anything with that money? Well, let’s break down what’s really happening.

The numbers lie to you in January and February

First off, neither Spotrac nor Over the Cap necessarily reports real cap numbers. They’re projecting. They both do a very good job, but these projections can look a little confusing in January and February, especially when a few weeks ago, it looked like the Lions had plenty of money. That sudden swing happened because the cap sites flipped from showing the 2025 cap year to the 2026 cap year, not because the Lions suddenly lost money.

The reason is that there are still players being counted who likely won’t be on the team in March, when the new league year starts. So technically, guys in the last year of their contract are still on that contract until March 11th, when those deals expire, and the Lions have to be cap-compliant.

This also includes some guys who were signed during the season and are unlikely to be here anymore, and some players who could be cut before March. This number is all pre-cap cleanup.

This is not counting restructures or extensions

We’ve written a few articles about this. The expected Jared Goff restructure will clear $40 million in cap space right off the bat. The Lions also have restructuring they can do with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill, and a couple of other guys that could free up a substantial amount of money.

There are also some extensions the Lions could get done, in which they shift some things around in 2026 to lower cap hits. Don’t expect much from this part of things.

Retirement watch

Both Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow could retire. Once they do, that will add nearly $20 million to the available cap space in 2026. While Dan Skipper has already announced his retirement, the NFL still has to process it, which can take some time.

Conclusion

If you look at the cap sites again in January 2027, you’ll see a similar story. The calendar flips, and everything resets to the beginning, and it looks like the Lions have a lot less money. Don’t worry, they will be fine. It’s not what it appears to be.

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