3 players the Detroit Lions should not extend during 2022 offseason

2. RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai

The Lions signed Vaitai to a five-year, $45 million deal in 2020, and made him into a starting guard. He missed six games last season and one so far this season, with an overall level of play that is solid but not spectacular. Simply put, a contract placing among the 5-10 highest-paid right guards in the NFL by any measure right now was and remains a drastic overpay.

Vaitai is under contract through 2024, with cap his of $8.4 million (2022) and $10.4 million (2023 and 2024) for those remaining three years (albeit with no guaranteed salarly left). He will be 31 years old for that final season of the contract.

I don’t necessarily see the Lions cutting Vaitai in the offseason, though a post-June 1 cut would clear $7 million of that $8.4 million cap hit (according to Over The Cap). It becomes more palatable to do so in 2023, but that still depends on if there’s a replacement for him in the pipeline via the draft, etc.

At the full conclusion of his contract, Vaitai will be the bad combination of a bit older and not that good/highly replaceable. The Lions won’t be willing to keep him at that point, and they’ll ideally be able to easily replace him at (or before) that time.