The biggest signing for the Detroit Lions during the free agency period is no doubt their new center, Cade Mays.

It’s why all of the players signed in the least week; he’s the guy who got the most money. The Lions signed him to a three-year deal worth $25 million. That’s not anywhere near the $80 million that the Raiders are paying Tyler Linderbaum, but it’s no small amount of money. The Lions had to make sure they protected themselves on this deal. The contract details that just dropped show they did.

The Lions can walk away from Mays after 2027 if it doesn’t work out

The Lions organized Mays’ contract a lot like they’ve been doing with all their other big deals. Dead money up front and lower cap hits to go with it. The Lions have the out after the 2027 season, and they’ll only have a dead cap hit of just a shade under $4 million to make it happen.

So if Mays doesn’t work out, the Lions aren’t trapped. They can walk away if they need to.

This deal is set up perfectly for an extension soon

And I mean really soon. If Mays goes out and has a killer season in 2026, the Lions could look to extend immediately and they already have these void years in place to make it happen. It would allow them to take the 2027 cap hit, which is the highest cap hit on the deal, and spread it out and make some of those void years actual contract years.

The Lions are saying to Mays, “Hey man, we like you, and we’re prepared to like you even more if you prove it.” Mays is still a younger player and realistically has a lot of playing time left. He’ll be just 29 years old when the original deal ends. So this could very well be a long-term thing.