The Detroit Lions still have some room in the salary cap to work with in 2025. But that doesn’t mean they will.
After the June 1 designations, which allow NFL teams to cut up to two players and spread out the hit to their salary caps over the next two years instead of one, the Lions have $40.1 million of cap space left for the upcoming season.
That’s the third-highest amount among all NFL teams according to Over The Cap, behind the New England Patriots ($60.4 million) and the San Francisco 49ers ($46.5 million).
The Lions chose not to use any of their June 1 designations this season, which means they didn’t add to their dead money total for 2025 or 2026. Their dead money total for 2025 stands at $21.8 million, ranking 20th in the league.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean the Lions have free reign to spend this season.
Starting in 2026, the Lions salary cap situation may turn from one of the best in the league to one of the worst. That’s because the Lions are currently projected to be $54.4 million over the cap in 2026, in part due to rising salaries for stars Jared Goff, Aidan Hutchinson, Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Goff’s impact is especially big, since his cap hit will rise from $32.6 million in 2025 to $69.6 million in 2026. Hutchinson’s will rise from $11.3 million this season to $19.8 million the next, St. Brown’s from $13.9 million to $33.1 million and Sewell’s from $9.5 million to $28 million.
That’s a rise of $83.2 million in cap space from just those four players.
The Lions also made safety Kerby Joseph the highest-paid safety in NFL history on a contract that begins in 2026.
The cap situation could mean the Lions look for creative ways to get ahead of a potential salary cap nightmare. That includes restructuring current deals, and handing out big bonuses for new contracts signed in 2025 in lieu of bigger salary commitments for later years.
Another option the Lions have is to hold firm with the roster they have already. NFL rules allow teams to roll over cap space into the following season, which means the Lions could knock off $40 million from their cap hit in 2026 should they make no changes to their salary obligations in 2025.
Complicating things is a Hutchinson extension on the horizon. The Lions already picked up his fifth-year rookie option for 2026, but the team wants to lock up Hutchinson to a long-term deal at some point.
Lions president Ron Wood has already said Hutchinson will be in Detroit “for the long haul,” though it’s unclear where the parties stand with negotiating a contract extension.
Another factor: Frank Ragnow had two years left on his contract before announcing his retirement Monday, June 2, which would save the Lions money.
He was scheduled to make $9.15 million in base salary in 2025 with a $14.05 million cap hit, according to Over The Cap. When the retirement becomes official, the Lions are only on the hook for $8.4 million in guarantees until 2026, instead of the $30.4 million cap hit through 2026. The Lions can spread the savings across both years if they choose.
However the Lions approach their salary cap situation, general manager Brad Holmes is sure to have many tough decisions to make over the next couple of years.
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