I’m not a cap guy, but it seems like everyone is getting a lot of money
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Not a cap guy either but my take on this is that for the first time in my lifetime we are focused on building through the draft. I don’t remember the last time we had so many players signing 2nd contracts. Our tendency has been to throw big money at FAs while letting our players walk. Ever player we have extended (with exception of Goff and Monty) have been our draft picks. We aren’t throwing money away on Trey Flowers and then watching him sit on the bench. We are drafting, coaching up and extending our own. Our FO is being extremely responsible and avoiding panic buying. Losing Hutch might cost us a SB shot ( I don’t think so) but they are not going to mortgage the future with a panic buy now. They trust their process and stick to it. Anyone hoping or expecting something different is going to be sadly disappointed.
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Because we weren’t paying literally anyone until these deals came out. That’s the nice thing about having a team full of guys on rookie contracts.
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Another interesting factoid about the salary cap that I didn’t know is that any remaining salary cap at the end of the year rolls over to the next. How this exactly works, I don’t really know.
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This is why it’s imperative to win when guys are on rookie contracts. It gets harder when you have to pay everybody, not that I think the Lions won’t still contend once all the big contracts kick in but it’ll make it harder to build depth which is why it’s imperative to keep drafting well so more young cheap guys contribute when they eventually lose the expensive depth guys.
This is why I’m ok with Holmes not spending high picks on win now pieces although there’s something to be said for living in the moment, living for today, and “going for it”.
The Lions are focusing on keeping their own players and getting extensions done early. This means they don’t overpay free agents without knowing how well they will fit with the team and they get (relative) discounts by not having to match whatever loony contract a team might offer one of their guys. Remember back around 2010 when the Eagles went on a free agency binge and then found themselves with a mediocre team buried in horrible contracts? The Lions don’t want to let that happen. Better to pay someone who you know is dawg and will put in the work than some other team’s flash in the pan.
Did I use dawg correctly? The kids say it and I’m trying to sound cool.
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I remember a couple years ago when half this board gave live birth because the Jags were going on the FA spending spree they had envisioned for the Lions
Dan Snyder convinced me years ago that building from FA is worse than it sounds
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Well, it may certainly prevent or limit any trades for “big name” players to add to the roster.
Yeah the only thing Snyder loved more than sexual harassment was ruining the market with stupid contracts. And Snyder really loves sexual harassment.
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Paging mr @DeadStroke to the scene.
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For me it was the nfc east as a whole but really Philadelphia and their “dream team”
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Also if you look at the projected cap numbers over the next 3-4 years…its gonna explode. 2027 the cap number is gonna be like 312 million.
No one in the back 7 is on a big contract. Most are on rookie deals.
Branch will get a bag. Kerby will be hard to fit, but if Davis gets replaced by Rake, there that $ is.
Now its just seeing how to work deals to get Hutch and SLaP paid, really. Barnes and Gibbs will be doable without major disruption because their positions dont make big $.
Jamo, to me, is the odd guy out. 5th yr option, maybe a tag year…but you cant pay everyone and Fast Guy is replaceable when compared to Hutch and LaPorta.
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I haven’t looked at the cap situation but the big payouts cannot continue forever.
Eventually some good players will hit the FA market.
We saw this with the Patriots before.
We must sign Hutch and Branch.
Campbell eventually …
We can’t sign everyone…
Simple. Pay them now. Figure out the cap situation before each season.
They are already about 10m OVER the cap for 2025 and 30m OVER for 2026.
And that includes estimated practice squad and IR allocations.
And thats with only 37 and 28 players signed respectively.
They will figure it out. Teams do it all the time
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They aren’t wasting money on sexy, expensive Superstars.
In other words, they’re not Fantasy Football GM’s. It’s Brad Holmes, “real” NFL GM.
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Respectfully, i disagree. First of all, JAMO’s speed is tyreke level. He is one of the best blockers on the team, he is team first and his route tree is expanding dramatically. He is one of the few players we have who can score every single time he touches the ball from anywhere. JAMO is not a robin, he is a batman. I have said it before, he reminds me of rodman, he isnt a diva. In that espn article is specifically talked about how it takes him a while to get comfortable with people and to buy in to a family like atmosphere. They have him bought in. He loves winning, this team, this city. When he scored on MNF he was coming back to the sideline and peopel are high fiving him…dan yanked him away from everyone and gave him a huge hug…JAMO is not the player you fu ck with. My opinion and is: if JAMO keeps playing like he is right now (he will) he will get a deal worth 20 something a year. JAMO will get paid. He is not replaceable.
Oh and Dan LOOOOOOOOOOVES HIM. bc dan beat his ass and rarher then cowering and giving up he grew the ■■■■ up and is balling out. Dan loveeeeees him for that.
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Not signing external FA to huge, long contracts goes a long way in being able to retain your own guys.
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Deadstroke would know more than me… but if you extend a guy with year(s) still left on current contract you can play with the cap hit alot. Lions have alot of cap space currently that can be moved to next season or used to front load some of this new money so future years look cheaper.
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Yeah I think that’s right too, though there’s certainly a lot of fine print to it (@DeadStroke?)