Detroit Lions Have Near No-Lose Situation With Louis Delmas

Photo Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

The news that the Detroit Lions had re-signed safety Louis Delmas was widely regarded as a good thing by most fans. However, the two-year, $9.465 million contract was a bit bigger than I had been expecting give the fact that Delmas hasn’t been able to play in all 16 games in any of his four NFL seasons.

It’s not that the contract was totally out of whack, it’s just that the Lions can’t count on Delmas to be healthy. As it turns out, they aren’t necessarily counting on him to be healthy. Signing Glover Quin is one indication with another being the way the Lions have constructed the new Delmas deal:

Also, Lions have lots of injury protection in Lou Delmas’ new contract. He got $1M signing bonus and a $715k base w/$1.75M in PT incentives

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 20, 2013

According to Delmas’ new deal, if he has 42% PT this year he gets $109k for every game he’s on 46-man roster.

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 20, 2013

That’s more like it. But there is one more detail that I find even more interesting:

Next year, he’s due a $5.5M base salary with a $500k roster bonus

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 20, 2013

This one has me saying “hmm” and looking at the contract as more of a one-year deal with a team option. With over half of the contract’s money due as salary in 2014, the Lions put themselves in a near no-lose situation.

Think about it. If Delmas can’t stay healthy in 2013 the Lions won’t have to pay out the playing time incentive and can move on from Delmas with little to no impact on the 2014 salary cap. If Delmas does stay healthy, the Lions will happily pay the 2013 incentives and a 2014 salary that is reasonable for a player like Delmas.