Why the Lions are unlikely to make post–June 1 cuts, except maybe one familiar veteran
Detroit Lions are unlikely to make major post–June 1 cuts despite the financial flexibility window opening, with only a small chance of a familiar veteran becoming a surprise candidate in a very quiet roster situation.
June 1st is a big deal for NFL teams because it’s post–June 1st cuts season. Post–June 1st cuts matter because they let teams spread dead cap over two years instead of taking the full hit at once, which creates short-term flexibility without completely blowing up the books. That’s why they sound bigger than they usually are—most of the real roster decisions already happen earlier in the offseason, and by June you’re left with just a few leftover contracts that are hard to move.
For the Detroit Lions, that usually means maybe one veteran at most becomes a candidate, not a wave of moves, because they’re operating in a contending window where preserving future cap space matters just as much as creating current space. So…
Don’t expect the Lions to have any post–June 1st-style cuts unless they want to move on from Brock Wright
As I said before, the Lions just don’t have any players that they can save more money on if they cut now, especially the way they like to structure their contracts, where they move a lot of money down the road.
I mentioned maybe one candidate could be there, and that’s Wright. If the Lions wanted to cut him, they could save $3.5 million.
The reason why it could be possible is simple. They have a ton of tight ends right now. Sam LaPorta is obviously the head chef in the kitchen, but Tyler Conklin adds a really solid blocking option who is better at it than Wright and can also be a secondary pass-catcher. Then there’s Zach Horton, Thomas Gordon, and the rookie Miles Kitselman.
At that point, if Wright is the TE3, he’s making quite a bit of money for a TE3. On the flip side, this is such a small investment in the grand scheme of it all that you could see why they wouldn’t really care a ton about saving that small amount here if they can just have an extra player who can play well enough from a depth spot. So it feels like they would probably just stand pat. We’ll see what happens.
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