Lions Rank 18th in Dead Money Owed

The Detroit Lions have the opportunity to add pieces to their roster in free agency when it begins in early March.

General manager Brad Holmes has made some wise decisions regarding the cap in his four years in the role, which has set Detroit up to be active spenders on the open market.

Because the team has plenty of talent in place, the organization can afford to add supplemental pieces to their core established through the draft. Detroit will not be held back by dead money on the books, as the team has the 18th-most in the league in dead money according to OverTheCap.

The Lions have $6,681,976 in dead money as of Thursday, with a majority of that sum being owed as a result of the team releasing Cam Sutton last offseason. Detroit parted ways with Sutton due to a legal incident ahead of what would've been the second year of a three-year, $33 million contract.

Sutton was initially owed $10.5 million in base salary, and filed a grievance against the league. In doing so, 40 percent of the amount was charged against the team and he cost Detroit $4.2 million against the cap in 2024. That number is expected to increase to $6.54 million in 2025 and is a large chunk of Detroit's dead money for the upcoming season.

The veteran cornerback landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a one-year contract. After serving an eight-game suspension to start the year, Sutton totaled 15 tackles and three passes defensed in nine games.

Leading the league in dead cap are the New Orleans Saints, who have just under $48.5 million. Cleveland ranks second with $39.7 million and the Denver Broncos are third with $33.5 million.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the lowest amount of dead cap with $45,335.

Detroit currently has an estimated $46,534,933 in cap space according to OverTheCap for the 2025 season. The official salary cap figure for the 2025 season will be announced later in the month ahead of the start of the new league year.

More from Lions OnSI: