In this series, we are going to hit on each team and give you a brief rundown of how they look going into free agency, what moves are at their disposal, and what you might expect from the team. NFL free agency begins during the legal tampering period on Monday, March 14, 2022, and then players can officially sign on March 16th. All salary numbers within the article are courtesy of OverTheCap.com.
 

With this article, we are going to explore all potential options - some of which will obviously be more realistic than others. 

 


Projected Cap Space: $19,676,647


OVERVIEW

The Detroit Lions essentially used the same rebuild technique as the 2019 Miami Dolphins. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote covering the topic of “tanking” where we were talking about what the Lions did in 2021.

As we are now learning, the key difference here is that Miami’s front office was a completely disjointed situation between the team and the front office whereas the Detroit Lions were seemingly able to do the difficult task of putting themselves in the best position for the future while still building a “winning culture”. As far as building the team for the long haul, they’ve done a good job of starting in the trenches with guys like Frank Ragnow, Penei Sewell, T.J. Hockenson, and both Romeo Okwara and Julian Okwara. Brad Holmes needs to continue that process this off-season and keep building towards the long-term goal. 
 

 

 

CAP MANEUVER OPTIONS

Restructure

The most common way to generate money via restructuring is to convert base salary to signing bonus which can then be spread out over the remaining years of the contract. You can also potentially incorporate an extension to spread that money out further. How favorable that is for both the team and player comes down to the long-term outlook for the player. In certain circumstances, you may even have the leverage to ask a player to take less money.

 


Let’s hit this one first because it’s easily the most controversial. Last year they had a choice between restructuring Jared Goff to sign guys like their rookie class and Romeo Okwara or not restructuring him and leaving the door open to cutting him this off-season. They chose to restructure him which pretty much locked him in for 2022.  If they restructure him again it will have the same impact and it will likely mean he’ll be at least competing for the starting job as a member of the team in both 2022 and 2023. The benefit is that they could save upwards of $16 million for this year’s cap in doing so but they are also extending their commitment. Brad Holmes did bring Jared Goff over with him from the Rams so he may have more faith in Goff than the rest of us. 
 

 


They just extended Taylor Decker recently and he’s played well - he’s under contract through 2025. There were some trade rumors regarding Decker briefly when he was hurt and Sewell moved to left tackle but Decker returned late season to play left tackle with the young rookie moving to the right. If the Lions think Sewell is content at right tackle and they feel good about the pairing for years to come, they could generate nearly $10 million in cap space for this season by converting Decker’s salary to bonus.
 

 


The period that led up to Michael Brockers being traded to the Lions for only a seventh-round pick was a strange one - especially since he reportedly refused to restructure his deal with the Rams then immediately agreed to do so with the Lions. But the more you look into it, the more it’s clear the Rams wanted him to take a pay cut while the Lions instead did what amounted to an extension to spread money out. They could free up an additional $3 million in cap this year by converting his salary to bonus but that would also make it difficult to move on from him in subsequent years. The defensive lineman is 31 years old.
 

 


Romeo Okwara is an interesting one because he was one of the few in-house free agents that the new regime decided was worth an extension last off-season. He got three years, $39 million. If they still like him long-term, they could free up $6.6 million immediately with a restructure or as high as $8 million via extension. That money would obviously be spread out of the next few years so you are just moving the cap hit forward, not asking him to take less.


Trade

 


The reality is that Trey Flowers is a piece that was inherited by this regime as it was Matt Patricia who gave the former Patriot the huge contract. Flowers has played well but injuries have been the big issue with his production. They could ask Flowers to restructure, take a pay cut, or he could be flat out released (would save $16 mil with only $7 mil in dead cap) but a trade would actually be the most beneficial move for the team. Not only would they get some sort of pick back in compensation but, by designating it a post-June 1st move, they could actually clear more space than outright cutting him - $17 million in cap with only $5.6 million in dead cap.

 


I liked the Jamaal Williams signing at the time. They let five veterans leave so could bring in one without disturbing the compensatory pick formula - they picked Jamaal. It gave them a veteran presence and could keep the wear and tear off D’Andre Swift. But Swift has clearly proven he’s the leader in that running back room and the emergence of Craig Reynolds, Godwin Igwebiuke, and Jermar Jefferson makes Jamaal Williams expendable. Cutting him would amount to $3 mil savings with $1.6 in dead cap but a trade clears $4 mil with only $600K in dead cap.  So a trade for literally anything, even a seventh-round pick, would be more valuable than cutting him. If a team like New England for instance can’t bring back James White, the services of a guy like Williams could be valuable to them.
 

 



Cut

 

 


If Halapoulivaati Vaitai is cut or traded with a post-June 1st designation, it would save $7 million with only $1.7 million in dead cap. To me, you aren’t as likely to find a trade partner for him as you are Flowers so cutting him for the cap space is probably the most reasonable play.
 

 


The Lions did a good job of cleaning up shop and only signing in-coming guys to one-year deals so they don’t really have a lot of loose ends in terms of guys to cut. Will Harris is one guy they could ditch though as he’s not looking like the answer at starting safety and they could save $2.5 million with less than $250K in dead cap. 


IMPORTANT FREE AGENTS

 


Given his 7.5 sacks, Charles Harris was a bargain last year at one year $1.75 million. But he also only played as much as he did due to injuries to guys like Romeo Okwara and Trey Flowers.  What happens next will be telling for the Lions in a few ways.  If they move on from Trey Flowers AND Charles Harris, that tells us they will be looking to use that second-overall pick on edge rusher. If they retain both, perhaps that’s less likely. Harris is reported to have earned himself a payday in the $8-$10 million range depending on how many years it’s for. 
 

 


Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, Khadarel Hodge - These guys are lumped into the same group because, to a certain degree, they’re in the same boat. They really aren’t the long-term answer at wideout. You aren’t just going to say “okay we have Josh Reynolds, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Quintez Cephus - we are set at wide receiver”. But the team also might not go for wide-outs now and you do need to fill out the roster with someone. Josh Reynolds is both the youngest and most versatile in terms of the roles he plays so, if it were affordable, I’d focus on him.

 

 


Tracy Walker has been a reliable safety, especially in the run game where he has notched 100+ tackles in multiple seasons now. His rookie contract is up and he’s reportedly both expressed interest in returning as well as his confidence in the new regime.
 


 

 


Nick Williams has been a decent run stuffer for the Lions the last couple of years but he’s soon to be 32 and this rebuild is still in the early stages.  I don’t foresee them bringing him back.
 

 


Jalen Reeves-Maybin/Alex Anzalone - The Lions will need to choose a direction at inside linebacker. And there have been some tea leaves out there as to which way they will go. Alex Anzalone’s comments on Instagram don’t sound like someone who thinks they are coming back to Detroit. So I’d say it’s most likely of the two that JRM is back or that they look elsewhere at linebacker. 


Honorable Mention Free Agents: Tim Boyle, Dean Marlowe, Joel Heath, Tyrell Crosby, Shaun Dion Hamilton
 

 


POSITIONS OF NEED (FREE AGENCY / DRAFT)

Quarterback - Again, we have to hit on this. Whether the Lions bring someone in this year or not, it’s still their biggest position of need.  This is a quarterback-driven league. Perhaps Brad Holmes truly does believe in Jared Goff and that he got away with highway robbery by bringing his quarterback with him AND multiple firsts for Matt Stafford. But most of us aren’t sold on Jared Goff as the long-term answer. The smart move might be to bring someone in this year to learn under Goff/compete with him rather than just throwing a rookie into the flames right away. That all boils down to whether there is a quarterback they like in the draft or a realistic trade partner, of course.  

Wide Receiver - We alluded to this above in the section talking about the free agent wide receivers but, despite the emergence of fourth-round pick Amon-Ra St. Brown, the Lions have one of the worst wide-receiver groups in the league. The only players under contract are St. Brown, Trinity Benson, Quintez Cephus, and Javon McKinley. It might not even be this year as the Dolphins did a similar tank in 2019 but didn’t bring in receivers until 2021. But you better believe that they will be bringing in a split end and at least another slot/flanker at some point. Brad Holmes was the head scout for the Rams during their rebuild and they brought in Sammy Watkins, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp. Considering the picks and cap space the Lions have and the fact that they could use both a split end and a flanker, pretty much anyone is a candidate. The top names of course are guys like Allen Robinson, Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, etc. so there are studs out there. 

Defense - This team is so early in the rebuild that it’s easier to simply say “defense” than list every single position. The reality is that, on offense, we mentioned quarterback and wide receiver, they are set at running back and tight end, and they’ve done quite a bit of investing in the offensive line already. The other side of the ball is a different story. Nose tackle is a linear depth chart and they just took Alim McNeill so they are probably set there while they see what they have in McNeil. But beyond that, they could use defensive end, inside and outside linebacker, safety, and corner depending on what they do with the free agents. This should be a great time for them to stack the defense with talent, especially through the draft.

 

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