Lions restructure Glover Quin's contract, according to report

According to the NFLPA, the Detroit Lions went into Friday with around $2.19 million in cap space. With the regular season nearing, that number will soon change. Not only will all of the Lions' contracts count against the salary cap, but the final round of roster cuts could also affect how much cap space they have depending on who is released.

That number is also going to change because the Lions have restructured the contract of safety Glover Quin, according to Michael Rothstein.

The #Lions have restructured S Glover Quin's contract, per a source. No change in years or anything, just a simple restructure.

— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) August 29, 2014

A simple restructure means the Lions converted most of his $3.5 million base salary for 2014 into a signing bonus. This will save them a couple million dollars of cap room this year with the signing bonus being spread out over the final four years of his contract. Essentially, this is the method that got them into so much trouble with Ndamukong Suh's contract situation -- saving room now by borrowing cap space from the future.

In Quin's case, the overall impact on his future cap numbers isn't going to be all that significant since the Lions aren't freeing up a ton of room. So why even bother with the move? Well, with all 53 players on their active roster, all of the players on injury lists and the entire practice squad about to count against the cap, chances are the Lions simply wanted some extra cushion just in case they need it. Yes, they have more than $2 million in cap room right now, but that extra cushion could come in handy as the season progresses.