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How much cap room do Lions currently have?

How much cap room do the Detroit Lions have right now? Let's examine the latest numbers.

Mike Carter-US PRESSWIRE

The Detroit Lions currently have 90 players on their roster, but it is far from set. They made an attempt to sign Josh Cribbs this week, for example, but he ended up joining the Oakland Raiders instead. The expectation is for the Lions to take a look at signing a veteran offensive tackle and perhaps a veteran defensive end as well in the coming months, but how much flexibility do they really have when it comes to the salary cap?

As of Thursday afternoon, the Lions have $2.79 million in cap room, according to the Detroit Free Press. This is based on the top 51 contracts since we're in the offseason.

All things considered, having $2.79 million in cap room isn't bad considering the Lions have already signed all of their draft picks. Those moves have already been accounted for, meaning the Lions are free to use the space remaining on adding a veteran player. They would probably need a bit more space to go out and add two starting-caliber players at this point, but they have room to make a real upgrade at at least one position right now.

The wild card here for the Lions when it comes to cap room is still Matthew Stafford. The Lions would get a nice boost in the cap room department by working out a new deal with Stafford. They could decide to save that extra room for next season, but they would also have the flexibility to make immediate use of it by improving the roster for this year's team. There haven't been any recent updates on where negotiations stand between Stafford and the Lions, but I'm sure both sides still want to get something done.