The salary cap ramifications if the Detroit Lions choose to release Terrion Arnold
Detroit Lions fans keep asking what happens if the team releases Terrion Arnold. Here’s a breakdown of the salary cap impact, the potential CBA forfeitable breach, and why Detroit’s financial outlook may not be as simple as it seems.
I want to be clear and up front on this one. We are not reporting anything here; we’re simply answering a question we’ve already seen many times since Detroit Lions’ cornerback Terrion Arnold was arrested on some very major charges in Florida on Wednesday.
What are the cap ramifications if the Detroit Lions cut Terrion Arnold?
They’re very minimal. The Lions are not saving a ton of money here. If the Lions were to release Arnold this week, they would save about $2.1 million in cap space. Not a lot at all, and that’s for fairly obvious reasons. He’s still on his rookie deal.
There is one thing that could help the Lions financially if they were to move on from Arnold, and it’s what’s known in the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement as a forfeitable breach. Essentially, if a player commits certain acts—like being incarcerated, suspended, or otherwise failing to perform his services under the contract—the team can seek to recover certain bonus money and avoid paying future salary that hasn’t been earned.
That’s important because it can save the team actual cash. The catch is that it doesn’t automatically erase the salary cap hit. The Lions would still have to deal with the prorated signing bonus on their cap, but a forfeitable breach could lessen the financial sting from an ownership standpoint if the circumstances ultimately met the CBA’s requirements.
This is all really putting the cart before the horse. While Arnold has been arrested, he has not had his day in court yet, and he’s innocent until proven guilty. There’s no guarantee that the Lions will cut bait here. Especially since Arnold and his team adamantly deny any involvement. The Lions may not choose to act rashly and jump to a conclusion here.
Fans may point to the Cam Sutton situation from a couple of years ago as an example of the Lions acting quickly, and they may look to do that again, but there was a bit of a difference here. Sutton fled from the police and then showed up at the Lions facility. Arnold willingly turned himself in.
All we can do now is wait and see what happens with Arnold and the Lions. Right now, we know Arnold will be in court on Thursday morning.
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