Nice article by OTC (Contract Growth in 2024) that puts the current markets for players in one place. You can kind of see where Lions players fall in on the scale. For the 2024 additions, I’ve listed their APY and for the ones that could be extended, I estimated where their salary range should be (IMO).
Current Year Additions:
CB Carlton Davis $14,500,000 10th
CB Amik Robertson $4,625,000 - 30th
CB Emmanual Moseley $2,875,000 - 51st
IDL DJ Reader $11,000,000 - 27th
Edge Marcus Davenport $6,500,000 - 47th
OG Graham Glasgow $6,666,667 - 25th
OG Kevin Zeitel - $6,500,000 26th
TE Brock Wright - $4,000,000 27th
WR Donovan Peoples-Jones - $1,300,000 -114th
ST - Jalen Reeves Maybin - $3,750,000
ST - Khalil Dorsey - $1,400,000
All are probably guaranteed to make the roster, except DPJ who will probably battle for the last WR spot.
You can kind of see where the contracts for potential extensions lies:
Jared Goff - Top 5/Top 10 border
Amon Ra St. Brown - Top 5
Alim McNeil - 11th - 20th
Taylor Decker - Top 5/Top 10 Border
Carlton Davis - Top 10
Iffy Melifonwu - Top 20/Top 30 Border
Derrick Barnes - Top 20/Top 30 Border
Players lost:
Jonah Jackson - $17,000,000 - 6th
Cam Sutton - $11,000,000 - 15th (before cut)
CJ Gardner Johnson - $9,000,000 - 13th
Josh Reynolds - $4,500,000 - 47th
I like what BH has done thus far, we are going to miss Reynolds and we need a replacement for Sutton.
I agree we need a replacement for Sutton. I think nickel CB is an underrated need for this team. We’ve heard Dan talk about wanting to move Branch back to safety. I think the plan was for Branch to move to safety in a 3 man rotation with Iffy and Kerby, and then move Cam into the slot, where he had played some (and better) in Pittsburgh. I think Amik and Carlton were acquired to be outside CB’s and Sutton was slated as the nickel. With him gone, that is a glaring need. It is nice to have Amik with the ability to go inside or outside, so we can choose the best CB we like in this draft, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they take a nickel and leave Amik outside.
Brad Holmes cap strategies are paying off so far. I wonder how will he handle things moving forward as he has to start paying his young talent.
I’m curious to see how he handles Goff, ARSB and the rest. How much talent can he retain and what will be his cap strategies once he has to start retaining his young talent. Will he make any mistakes that cost him roster dollars and dead cap space? I am sure he will. Every GM does …. But it’s really how he handles them.
I do think the one year rental program he uses is super smart. It gives him the freedom to work around a bad contract.
Paying Iffy top 20/30 at first looked…well…iffy to me.
But,
If he gets out to the FA market after having a full season like he had last year, he may get competing offers like that from desperate, not super good at their job GMs…
Huge year for Iffy really. If he proves he can play a full healthy season like he did over a 7 to 8 game span last year…dude hits the jackpot next offseason. Can he do it? I really don’t know… it’s Iffy… his injury history makes me think we need more depth
It looks to me like we need a LG on a rookie contract this year. Then a RG next year unless Sorsdal is ready to take over. We can’t afford to keep signing free agent Gs.
Iffy, Barnes, Moseley, Carlton Davis, a resurgent Onwuzurike, and maybe even Taylor Decker will have to compete with Goff, St Brown, Sewell and McNeill for extension money after 2024. Some in the first group will find better paydays elsewhere, especially if Brad continues to hit on his draft picks.
Annual compensatory draft picks will soon be ours. Brad to the NFL: Bwa-ha-ha!!!
