How Detroit Lions Could Resolve Current Salary Cap Crisis

The Detroit Lions currently project to be over the salary cap by a little over $3 million.

According to Over the Cap , the top 51 contracts for the Lions currently carry a cost of $275,904,428. By Monday, the team must be in compliance with the league's salary cap figure of $301.2 million per team, a jump up of $22 million over the 2025 figure.

Detroit carries a dead money cap figure of $36,185,336 and must also factor in players on the practice squad, players on injured reserve, the PUP list and NFI list in their cap calculations.

In order to get under the cap, the front office will likely restructure a couple of contracts to free up cap space. Restructuring Jared Goff's contract again could net $12 million. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell could also restructrue their contracts.

Detroit typically likes to keep between $15-20 million in cap space for a rainy day, in case a player gets injured during the season.

Additional Detroit Lions NFL Insider Analysis: Did Losing Veteran Wide Receiver Greg Dortch Really Hurt Dan Campbell's Squad?

Moving on from Terrion Arnold carried a dead cap hit of nearly $6.7 milion. The front office could have looked to void some guarantees, but the former first-round pick could challenge that with help of the NFLPA.

An arbitration hearing would decide if the Lions would receive cap savings or have to face their cap commitments for Arnold's contract.

Detroit Lions 2026 salary cap figures

Jared Goff: $37,600,000
Amon-Ra St. Brown: $33,110,000
Alim McNeill: $28,966,000
Penei Sewell: $28,000,000
D.J. Reed: $17,867,000
Aidan Hutchinson: $10,146,400
Derrick Barnes: $9,764,000
Jahmyr Gibbs: $8,677,999
Jameson Williams: $8,270,600
Sam LaPorta: $6,738,090
Larry Borom: $5,000,000
Jack Campbell: $4,794,239
Brock Wright: $4,734,000
Blake Miller: $3,976,785
Jack Fox: $3,975,000
Tyleik Williams: $3,745,475
Rock Ya-Sin: $3,200,000
D.J. Wonnum: $2,960,000
Derrick Moore: $2,077,626
Christian Izien: $2,077,626
Ennis Rakestraw: $1,768,567
Tate Ratledge: $1,740,541
Khalil Dorsey: $1,693,823
Juice Scruggs: $1,581,696
Isaac TeSlaa: $1,514,648
Malcolm Rodridguez: $1,402,500
Trevor Nowaske: $1,350,000
Avonte Maddox: $1,262,500
Chuck Clark: $1,262,500
Roger McCreary: $1,262,500
Levi Onwuzurike: $1,215,000
Sione Vaki: $1,215,000
Joshua Dobbs: $1,200,000
Jimmy Rolder: $1,173,240
Tyler Lacy: $1,145,000
Mekhi Wingo: $1,121,700
Christian Mahogany: $1,109,597
Miles Frazier: $1,085,054
Hogan Hatten: $1,075,334
Devin White: $1,075,000
Ben Bartch: $1,075,000
Tyler Conklin: $1,075,000
Jake Bates: $1,075,000
Thomas Harper: $1,075,000
Keith Abney: $1,009,725
Tay Martin: $1,005,000
Jacob Saylors: $1,005,000
Ahmed Hassanein: $985,000
Skyler Gill-Howard: $950,823
Eric O'Neill: $950,823
Jabari Small: $885,000

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