The Detroit Lions season is over. Now it's time to move into the free agency period. The Lions are likely to be very active when it comes to bringing in new players this March. While the Lions currently have the sixth highest projected cap space in the league, they may still need to free up some more space if they hope to make a splash in free agency. 

There's some opportunities to do that, but it would mean that there's going to be some cap casualties that the Lions will have to part with. After going over the roster, here's three players that could be candidates to be cap casualties ahead of March 13th. 

Tracy Walker

You hate to see this. I hate to even include Walker in here because he's part of that old guard for the Lions. But Walker has become less and less a part of this team as the season has gone on. 

Walker got benched in Week 14 in favor of Ifeatu Melifonwu and to make matters worse, he has been a healthy scratch for the last few weeks and he didn't play in any of the Lions playoff games.

The Lions do have an out in Walkers contract ahead of the 2024 season. If the Lions were to release Walker ahead of free agency, they'll open up an extra $5.5 million in cap space. They will have to pay a little over $7 million in dead cap. 

John Cominsky

Cominsky had a big 2022 and it earned him a two year deal after the season. Unfortunately Cominsky took a step in the wrong direction in 2023. All of his numbers were cut in half despite having more playing time and starting more games.

Cominsky has a case to stay on as a depth piece in in 2024, but if the Lions decide to take the money and run, the Lions could save $4.6 million in cap space going into March. They'll also have to pay less than $2 million in dead cap. 

Levi Onwuzurkie 

I haven't totally sold myself on the idea of this happening. You hate to see the Lions giving up on a second round pick before his rookie deal ends, but Onwuzrukie has really underperformed since the Lions drafted him. They also just don't use him a lot. 

The back injury was really a problem for Onwuzurkie. It cost him his entire sophomore season and while he did return for the 2023 season, he wasn't a big part of the teams defensive line rotation and only played 132 snaps the whole year. There were multiple weeks where he was a healthy scratch. 

The Lions aren't going to free up a ton of money on this, just $1.7 million. But at this point you have to wonder if the Lions will wind up using him if next year if they what everyone expects them to do and put  money and draft assets into this defensive line. He'll be cheap depth, but will he have a shot to make it? 

A complete guide of who is a free agent for the Lions and if they should be back

The Detroit Lions season is over. Now it's time to start looking at who's due for a new contract and who the Lions should be bringing back or letting walk this offseason. Here's a full list of all their free agents along with their free agency type and our current thoughts on whether or not […]