The Lions have a real chance to be at the top of the league in cap space for free agency if a few things happen
The Lions could have a huge offseason if this all goes down.
By this time next week, the Detroit Lions’ season will be over, and they’ll be right into their offseason. Before you know it, free agency will be here, and there is a wide belief that Brad Holmes and the Lions will put aside their past ways and go for it this year.
How will they do that if they only have a shade over $13 million in cap space right now? That ranks 21st in the NFL, by the way. What if I told you there was a way to get this up over $100 million pretty soon? It can absolutely happen. Here’s how the Lions do it.
Restructure Jared Goff’s contract
We talked about this in full on Monday. The Lions can open up just over $40 million ($40.275 million) in cap space by restructuring Goff’s deal. That’s a large chunk of the pie for the Lions. It doesn’t change the amount that Goff gets paid; it just spreads it out.
Estimated cap space: $53,924,717
Taylor Decker’s retirement
This is not set in stone, but again, this is a list of things that need to happen for the Lions to stack some cash. We know Decker has been weighing retirement.
With the health issues he’s faced this year, it would not be a shock if he went through with it. If Decker retires, that frees up an estimated $15 million in 2026. The Lions would still owe him a bit of prorated money, but that’s a good amount to free up.
Estimated cap space: $68,924,717
Graham Glasgow’s retirement
Glasgow has also been dealing with a lot of injuries lately, and he’ll be 34 if he decides to play next year. His retirement doesn’t free up a ton of money, but it does help. Detroit would get an estimated $7 million in cap savings.
Estimated cap space: 75,924,717
Amon-Ra St. Brown restructure
St. Brown will have a $33 million cap hit in 2026, and it’s fully guaranteed. If the Lions convert that to a bonus by adding two void years to his deal, that could open up $21.5 million in cap space in 2026.
Estimated cap space: 97,424,717
Don’t forget the rollover cap
Last year, the Lions ended free agency with the third most cap space, and they then decided to roll a lot of that over into 2026 at approximately $20,587,801.
Estimated cap space: $118,012,518
That right there would make the Lions third in cap space behind the Tennessee Titans and the Las Vegas Raiders. There are other things the Lions could do, like restructure Penei Sewell’s deal or trade Alim McNeill, but I’m not sure they’ll go those routes.
Either way, if the Lions make these moves, they could have a giant stack of cash to do pretty much whatever they want in March. We’ll see what they do.
Detroit Lions News
Do not expect the Lions to trade Jared Goff this offseason, or ever, it’s almost impossible
Jared Goff is playing really well. Why would anyone want to do this?
