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Continuing our series on the Detroit Lions' salary cap, it's time to take a look at the situation for 2015. Just like last time, you can find a ranking of the Lions' biggest cap hits on the left side, and on the right side you can see a rundown of which players would provide the most cap savings if they were let go by the Lions. Check it out:
| Player | 2015 cap hit | Player | Savings if cut | |||
| WR | Calvin Johnson | $20,558,000 | DT | Ndamukong Suh | $3,505,000 | |
| QB | Matthew Stafford | $17,721,250 | LB | DeAndre Levy | $3,500,000 | |
| DT | Ndamukong Suh | $13,242,500 | LB | Stephen Tulloch | $3,200,000 | |
| LB | Stephen Tulloch | $5,800,000 | DE | Jason Jones | $3,150,000 | |
| WR | Golden Tate | $5,350,000 | RB | Reggie Bush | $2,500,000 | |
| DE | Ziggy Ansah | $5,071,232 | S | Glover Quin | $1,900,000 | |
| S | Glover Quin | $5,050,000 | S | James Ihedigbo | $1,625,000 | |
| LB | DeAndre Levy | $4,500,000 | RB | Joique Bell | $1,500,000 | |
| RB | Reggie Bush | $4,500,000 | OT | Riley Reiff | $1,480,050 | |
| DE | Jason Jones | $3,983,333 | WR | Ryan Broyles | $891,614 | |
| -- | Dead money | $3,900,000 | TE | Brandon Pettigrew | $800,000 | |
| TE | Brandon Pettigrew | $3,800,000 | CB | Bill Bentley | $680,000 | |
| RB | Joique Bell | $3,500,000 | LB | Tahir Whitehead | $660,000 | |
| TE | Eric Ebron | $2,783,897 | CB | Jonte Green | $660,000 | |
| OT | Riley Reiff | $2,543,450 | LB | Travis Lewis | $660,000 | |
| S | James Ihedigbo | $2,000,000 | S | Don Carey | $595,000 | |
| CB | Darius Slay | $1,442,537 | TE | Joseph Fauria | $585,000 | |
| WR | Ryan Broyles | $1,170,704 | OT | LaAdrian Waddle | $585,000 | |
| LB | Kyle Van Noy | $1,159,569 | WR | Pat Edwards | $585,000 | |
| S | Don Carey | $995,000 | OG | Rodney Austin | $585,000 | |
| OG | Larry Warford | $849,250 | DT | Jimmy Saddler-McQueen | $585,000 | |
| CB | Bill Bentley | $817,278 | OT | Michael Williams | $568,713 | |
| LB | Tahir Whitehead | $713,000 | RB | Theo Riddick | $562,250 | |
| C | Travis Swanson | $689,842 | P | Sam Martin | $544,925 | |
| CB | Jonte Green | $684,250 | S | Gabe Lynn | $510,666 | |
| LB | Travis Lewis | $674,793 | OG | Alex Bullard | $510,332 | |
| DE | Devin Taylor | $660,146 | C | Darren Keyton | $510,000 | |
| P | Sam Martin | $625,075 | RB | Steven Miller | $510,000 | |
| RB | Theo Riddick | $607,750 | WR | Corey Fuller | $510,000 | |
| OT | Michael Williams | $601,287 | OT | Bryce Quigley | $510,000 | |
| TE | Joseph Fauria | $589,167 | DE | Kalonji Kashama | $510,000 | |
| OT | LaAdrian Waddle | $588,334 | DT | Xavier Proctor | $510,000 | |
| DE | Larry Webster | $585,146 | DT | Gregory Hickman | $510,000 | |
| CB | Nevin Lawson | $585,146 | TE | Jordan Thompson | $510,000 | |
| WR | Pat Edwards | $585,000 | LB | Brandon Hepburn | $510,000 | |
| OG | Rodney Austin | $585,000 | K | Giorgio Tavecchio | $510,000 | |
| DT | Jimmy Saddler-McQueen | $585,000 | DE | Devin Taylor | $509,854 | |
| DT | Caraun Reid | $557,220 | QB | James Franklin | $509,332 | |
| WR | TJ Jones | $536,550 | WR | Andrew Peacock | $509,166 | |
| K | Nate Freese | $524,856 | OG | D.J. Morrell | $509,166 | |
| OT | Cornelius Lucas | $516,666 | OG | A.J. Dalton | $509,166 | |
| FB | Chad Abram | $512,500 | LB | Justin Jackson | $509,166 | |
| S | Jerome Couplin | $512,000 | TE | Jacob Maxwell | $509,000 | |
| CB | Mohammed Seisay | $511,666 | CB | Mohammed Seisay | $508,332 | |
| TE | Jacob Maxwell | $511,000 | S | Jerome Couplin | $508,000 | |
| S | Gabe Lynn | $510,833 | FB | Chad Abram | $507,500 | |
| WR | Andrew Peacock | $510,833 | OT | Cornelius Lucas | $503,332 | |
| OG | D.J. Morrell | $510,833 | OG | Larry Warford | $500,750 | |
| OG | A.J. Dalton | $510,833 | K | Nate Freese | $480,288 | |
| LB | Justin Jackson | $510,833 | WR | TJ Jones | $456,900 | |
| QB | James Franklin | $510,666 | DT | Caraun Reid | $415,560 | |
| OG | Alex Bullard | $510,166 | DE | Larry Webster | $359,708 | |
| C | Darren Keyton | $510,000 | CB | Nevin Lawson | $359,708 | |
| RB | Steven Miller | $510,000 | CB | Darius Slay | $329,155 | |
| WR | Corey Fuller | $510,000 | C | Travis Swanson | $235,264 | |
| OT | Bryce Quigley | $510,000 | -- | Dead money | $0 | |
| DE | Kalonji Kashama | $510,000 | WR | Calvin Johnson | -$416,000 | |
| DT | Xavier Proctor | $510,000 | LB | Kyle Van Noy | -$965,310 | |
| DT | Gregory Hickman | $510,000 | WR | Golden Tate | -$2,050,000 | |
| TE | Jordan Thompson | $510,000 | DE | Ziggy Ansah | -$5,916,433 | |
| LB | Brandon Hepburn | $510,000 | TE | Eric Ebron | -$7,238,131 | |
| K | Giorgio Tavecchio | $510,000 | QB | Matthew Stafford | -$9,500,000 |
Currently, the Lions have $132,954,391 committed to the 2015 cap and 61 players under contract for next year. A lot of those players will be let go during roster cuts this summer, though, so the Lions won't actually be on the hook for that much money until they expand their roster again next offseason (at which point the top 51 rule will be in effect).
Another important thing to note about 2015 is that Ndamukong Suh is technically still under contract for next year. In reality, though, his contract will be voided after the Super Bowl, making him a free agent at the start of the 2015 league year. Thanks to dead money, he will have a cap hit of around $10 million even if he becomes a free agent and signs elsewhere, but the Lions want to make sure that scenario doesn't play out by signing him to a long-term deal.
If Suh doesn't return to Detroit, the Lions will save $3.505 million in cap space for 2015. That's not worth losing your best defensive player, though, especially with all of that dead money already on the books. That's why they will make every effort to re-sign Suh, and chances are they will look elsewhere if they need to create cap space. Releasing Jason Jones, for example, would free up $3.15 million in cap space, and the Lions could save $2.5 million by parting ways with Reggie Bush. Letting Bush go after only two seasons doesn't necessarily seem likely, but then again, things change quickly in the NFL.
On the left side of the table, Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford are set to have the biggest cap hits for the Lions in 2015. This will be the case again in 2016 and 2017, when Johnson and Stafford will both have cap hits of more than $20 million. That's a discussion for another day, though, as we will take a look at the Lions' salary cap situation for 2016 and 2017 later in the week. For now, what stands out to you about 2015?
(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.)
Previously: General overview, 2014