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Last week, we took a general overview of the Detroit Lions' salary cap situation from 2014 to 2020. Although we got to see all of the different cap hits that are on the books for the remainder of the decade, the numbers didn't exactly tell the whole story. It's important to remember that numerous players under contract right now will be released later this summer, and many others will likely be let go in the coming years before they finish their contracts.
In order to get a better idea of where things stand for 2014, let's take a closer look at the Lions' salary cap situation. You can find a ranking of the largest cap hits on the left side, and on the right side you can see which players would provide the most cap savings if they were let go by the Lions.
Player | 2014 cap hit | Player | Savings if cut | |||
DT | Ndamukong Suh | $22,412,500 | DT | Ndamukong Suh | $2,937,500 | |
QB | Matthew Stafford | $15,820,000 | OG | Rob Sims | $2,575,000 | |
WR | Calvin Johnson | $13,058,000 | DE | Jason Jones | $2,016,666 | |
-- | Dead money | $5,563,879 | OT | Corey Hilliard | $1,650,000 | |
LB | Stephen Tulloch | $5,050,000 | DT | C.J. Mosley | $1,550,000 | |
S | Glover Quin | $4,550,000 | RB | Reggie Bush | $1,500,000 | |
RB | Reggie Bush | $4,500,000 | LB | DeAndre Levy | $1,250,000 | |
DE | Ziggy Ansah | $4,226,023 | LB | Ashlee Palmer | $1,250,000 | |
OG | Rob Sims | $3,775,000 | C | Dominic Raiola | $1,250,000 | |
DE | Jason Jones | $3,683,333 | LB | Stephen Tulloch | $1,150,000 | |
LB | DeAndre Levy | $3,250,000 | RB | Montell Owens | $1,005,000 | |
DT | Nick Fairley | $3,146,500 | RB | Mikel Leshoure | $843,297 | |
WR | Golden Tate | $3,100,000 | FB | Jed Collins | $645,000 | |
RB | Joique Bell | $2,300,000 | S | Isa Abdul-Quddus | $645,000 | |
TE | Eric Ebron | $2,227,118 | WR | Kris Durham | $645,000 | |
TE | Brandon Pettigrew | $2,200,000 | LB | Cory Greenwood | $645,000 | |
OT | Riley Reiff | $2,180,100 | S | DeJon Gomes | $645,000 | |
OT | Corey Hilliard | $1,900,000 | DE | Darryl Tapp | $570,000 | |
DT | C.J. Mosley | $1,725,000 | LS | Don Muhlbach | $570,000 | |
LB | Ashlee Palmer | $1,583,334 | QB | Kellen Moore | $570,000 | |
C | Dominic Raiola | $1,500,000 | WR | Jeremy Ross | $570,000 | |
CB | Darius Slay | $1,202,114 | WR | Naaman Roosevelt | $570,000 | |
RB | Montell Owens | $1,130,000 | DE | George Johnson | $570,000 | |
S | James Ihedigbo | $1,125,000 | DT | Andre Fluellen | $570,000 | |
RB | Mikel Leshoure | $1,085,357 | LB | Julian Stanford | $570,000 | |
WR | Ryan Broyles | $1,003,227 | CB | Chris Greenwood | $570,000 | |
S | Don Carey | $930,000 | CB | Cassius Vaughn | $570,000 | |
LB | Kyle Van Noy | $927,655 | LB | Travis Lewis | $555,207 | |
CB | Bill Bentley | $727,278 | CB | Jonte Green | $545,750 | |
OG | Larry Warford | $714,250 | WR | Kevin Ogletree | $535,000 | |
FB | Jed Collins | $710,000 | LB | Tahir Whitehead | $517,000 | |
S | Isa Abdul-Quddus | $695,000 | QB | Dan Orlovsky | $510,000 | |
WR | Kris Durham | $645,000 | WR | Pat Edwards | $495,000 | |
LB | Cory Greenwood | $645,000 | OG | Rodney Austin | $495,000 | |
S | DeJon Gomes | $645,000 | DT | Jimmy Saddler-McQueen | $495,000 | |
DE | Darryl Tapp | $635,000 | OT | LaAdrian Waddle | $491,666 | |
LS | Don Muhlbach | $635,000 | TE | Joseph Fauria | $490,832 | |
WR | Kevin Ogletree | $635,000 | CB | Bill Bentley | $452,722 | |
QB | Dan Orlovsky | $635,000 | RB | Theo Riddick | $449,500 | |
CB | Rashean Mathis | $635,000 | WR | Ryan Broyles | $445,591 | |
LB | Tahir Whitehead | $623,000 | OT | Michael Williams | $420,000 | |
CB | Jonte Green | $594,250 | RB | Steven Miller | $420,000 | |
LB | Travis Lewis | $584,793 | WR | Corey Fuller | $420,000 | |
QB | Kellen Moore | $576,668 | WR | Cody Wilson | $420,000 | |
C | Travis Swanson | $574,868 | TE | Jordan Thompson | $420,000 | |
DE | Devin Taylor | $570,146 | OT | J.B. Shugarts | $420,000 | |
WR | Jeremy Ross | $570,000 | OT | Bryce Quigley | $420,000 | |
WR | Naaman Roosevelt | $570,000 | C | Darren Keyton | $420,000 | |
DE | George Johnson | $570,000 | DE | Kalonji Kashama | $420,000 | |
DT | Andre Fluellen | $570,000 | DT | Xavier Proctor | $420,000 | |
LB | Julian Stanford | $570,000 | DT | Gregory Hickman | $420,000 | |
CB | Chris Greenwood | $570,000 | LB | Brandon Hepburn | $420,000 | |
CB | Cassius Vaughn | $570,000 | CB | Aaron Hester | $420,000 | |
P | Sam Martin | $535,075 | K | Giorgio Tavecchio | $420,000 | |
RB | Theo Riddick | $517,750 | OG | Alex Bullard | $419,666 | |
TE | Joseph Fauria | $499,166 | QB | James Franklin | $418,666 | |
OT | LaAdrian Waddle | $498,333 | WR | Andrew Peacock | $418,333 | |
DE | Larry Webster | $495,146 | OG | D.J. Morrell | $418,333 | |
CB | Nevin Lawson | $495,146 | OG | A.J. Dalton | $418,333 | |
WR | Pat Edwards | $495,000 | LB | Justin Jackson | $418,333 | |
OG | Rodney Austin | $495,000 | S | Gabe Lynn | $418,333 | |
DT | Jimmy Saddler-McQueen | $495,000 | TE | Jacob Maxwell | $418,000 | |
DT | Caraun Reid | $467,220 | CB | Mohammed Seisay | $416,666 | |
WR | TJ Jones | $446,550 | S | Jerome Couplin | $416,000 | |
OT | Michael Williams | $436,287 | FB | Chad Abram | $415,000 | |
K | Nate Freese | $434,856 | P | Sam Martin | $414,850 | |
OT | Cornelius Lucas | $426,666 | OT | Cornelius Lucas | $406,666 | |
FB | Chad Abram | $422,500 | S | James Ihedigbo | $400,000 | |
S | Jerome Couplin | $422,000 | K | Nate Freese | $375,432 | |
CB | Mohammed Seisay | $421,666 | S | Glover Quin | $350,000 | |
TE | Jacob Maxwell | $421,000 | DE | Devin Taylor | $344,708 | |
WR | Andrew Peacock | $420,833 | WR | TJ Jones | $340,350 | |
OG | D.J. Morrell | $420,833 | S | Don Carey | $330,000 | |
OG | A.J. Dalton | $420,833 | DT | Caraun Reid | $278,340 | |
LB | Justin Jackson | $420,833 | DE | Larry Webster | $194,562 | |
S | Gabe Lynn | $420,833 | CB | Nevin Lawson | $194,562 | |
QB | James Franklin | $420,666 | OG | Larry Warford | $191,500 | |
OG | Alex Bullard | $420,166 | CB | Rashean Mathis | $70,000 | |
RB | Steven Miller | $420,000 | DT | Nick Fairley | $0 | |
WR | Corey Fuller | $420,000 | -- | Dead money | $0 | |
WR | Cody Wilson | $420,000 | C | Travis Swanson | -$44,604 | |
TE | Jordan Thompson | $420,000 | CB | Darius Slay | -$963,382 | |
OT | J.B. Shugarts | $420,000 | OT | Riley Reiff | -$1,063,400 | |
OT | Bryce Quigley | $420,000 | RB | Joique Bell | -$2,000,000 | |
C | Darren Keyton | $420,000 | LB | Kyle Van Noy | -$2,124,879 | |
DE | Kalonji Kashama | $420,000 | TE | Brandon Pettigrew | -$3,000,000 | |
DT | Xavier Proctor | $420,000 | WR | Golden Tate | -$7,400,000 | |
DT | Gregory Hickman | $420,000 | TE | Eric Ebron | -$10,022,028 | |
LB | Brandon Hepburn | $420,000 | DE | Ziggy Ansah | -$10,987,661 | |
CB | Aaron Hester | $420,000 | WR | Calvin Johnson | -$15,974,000 | |
K | Giorgio Tavecchio | $420,000 | QB | Matthew Stafford | -$27,221,250 |
The Lions currently have $147,453,751 committed to the 2014 salary cap, but they have around $2 million in cap space. That's because only the top 51 contracts count against the cap during the offseason. Once the regular season arrives, that rule will no longer apply and all contracts -- players on the 53-man roster, injured reserve, practice squad, etc. -- will count against the cap.
For this year, it's no surprise that Ndamukong Suh has the largest cap hit considering his contract has been restructured so much over the years. A big reason behind the Lions' desire to sign him to a long-term deal is to lower that $22.4 million cap number. A long-term deal isn't necessarily going to provide the Lions with a ridiculous amount of cap room at this point, but it would make his cap number a little bit more manageable.
The really interesting thing here is to look at the right side of the above table. If there's a situation where the Lions are desperate for cap room, who might be on the chopping block? Based on the cap savings if they were let go, guys like Rob Sims, Jason Jones, C.J. Mosley, Ashlee Palmer and Montell Owens jump out as potential cap casualties. That's not to say that any of them are in danger of being cut at this point, but if a cheaper, younger player steps up and takes over a starting spot at offensive guard or defensive end, for example, perhaps the Lions could choose cap savings over veteran depth.
Of course, players are generally released for cap reasons toward the beginning of the offseason, so roster decisions at this point should be based mainly on what happens on the field during training camp and the preseason. Salaries and cap hits are always part of the decision-making process, but the Lions already went through their cap casualties by releasing Nate Burleson, Louis Delmas and Leroy Harris back in February and March. In that sense, it'll be more interesting to look at the "savings if cut" column for 2015 and beyond, so stay tuned for that.
Strictly for 2014, what jumps out to you about the Lions' salary cap situation?
(Once again, special thanks to the Free Press, Spotrac, Over the Cap and the NFLPA. I couldn't have assembled these numbers without the great resources provided by those four sites.)