With the contract tolling, the terms from the previous agreement remain in place, including a fully guaranteed $1.5 million base salary and up to $500,000 in per game bonuses.
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Booking my superbowl tickets for next year
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So basically 1.5M
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If he’s healthy I feel like it’s good deal.
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Well at least a local reporter finally figured out what a contract tolling means. But he didn’t mention anything about Josh Paschal, who’s contract might also toll.
It’s also odd that the Lions official twitter page had Levi listed as an UFA, but Paschal was not listed. OTC has Levi’s contract tolling and they also have Paschal listed as a RFA.
Figuring out part of it is better than nothing. @Phunnypharm and I have been wondering if they were going to toll both contracts, one or neither. This would have been a great question for any reporter to ask during BH’s year end interview on 01/08.
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In 25 words or less, can you define what toll means in NFL verbiage?
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For players that didn’t play a single snap during the regular season or training camp (PUP or NFI for the entire season), their contract for that year doesn’t count and is binding for the next season.
In 2025, Levi signed a $4M/1yr contract that included a $2M signing bonus, $1.5M base salary and $500K in per-game bonuses. He was paid the $2M SB when he signed the contract in 2025. Now the $1.5M base salary and $500K per game bonuses (plus some other incentives) move to the 2026 league year.
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Actually I’m good with keeping Levi, he played well in 2024. However didn’t he sign for 1 year 5.5 million last year? So are we paying him 5.5 million again? Or 2 million like your post says?
2 mill for Levi would be a great deal
@DeadStroke answered my question 1 reply up while I was typing.
That’s a cheap contract for Levi. His 2024 performance was pretty good. Hope he can stay healthy but it’s a peanuts contract really next year. No risk.
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Well, he’ll get the $1.5M base salary no matter what. He’ll get $29.4M for every game he plays ($500K if he plays all of them).
Plus he has the following incentives.
| Year | Type | Total | NLTBE | LTBE | Category | Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Incentive | $250,000 | $250,000 | $0 | Individual | 50% def playtime |
| 2026 | Incentive | $250,000 | $250,000 | $0 | Individual | 60% def playtime |
| 2026 | Incentive | $250,000 | $250,000 | $0 | Individual | 70% def playtime |
| 2026 | Incentive | $250,000 | $250,000 | $0 | Individual | 5 sacks |
| 2026 | Incentive | $250,000 | $250,000 | $0 | Individual | 8 sacks |
| 2026 | Incentive | $250,000 | $250,000 | $0 | Individual | 11 sacks |
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Roger that. You da man brother! Lets hope he gets every single one of those incentives.
Even if he gets a couple of those incentives it would be a huge help for the dline.
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It’s time to move on. He can’t be relied on at all and the Lions need reliable players.
He is in the same category as Emmanuel Mosley, Rakestraw, Davenport etc. Damaged goods.
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We also get Paschal back lol
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Thanks. That seems fair to the team.
Just curious: If someone tore an ACL in mandatory minicamp and were done for the full season, would that also apply?
Yes, he’d start training camp on PUP and he wouldn’t be healed during the season.
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UPDATE: Lions defensive end Josh Paschal also remains under contract due to a very similar rule, this time regarding the Non-Football Injury list (Article 20, Section 3, Part B):
A player on N-F/I who is in the final year of his contract (including an option year) will have his contract tolled. However, if the player is physically able to perform his football services on or before the sixth regular season game, the Club must pay the player his negotiated Paragraph 5 Salary (pro rata) for the balance of the season in order to toll such player’s contract. If such player is taken off N-F/I during the period when such action is allowed by League rules, his contract will not be tolled.
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Love it. I prefer Levi AND Paschal back. Anything they give us is bonus. If the Lions get nothing cool. But at least we get a look at them based on old affordable deals.
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Does this also apply to rookie contracts? For example, do we gain an extra year of control over Rakestraw because he didn’t play last year?
Exactly. Real cheap contracts. Don’t count on them to start at all. But as depth and role players why not. Davenport always pissed me off cause we were counting on him to start. Same with Moseley. But as depth guys and backups on limited snap counts Levi and Paschal may help some.
People seem to forget Levi played 16 games in 2024 and had well over 600 snaps that season. 13 qb hits too.
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You don’t count on them as depth or role players for the same reason you wouldnt count on them as starters.
We are seeing that Holmes doesn’t learn from past mistakes.