Lions create some cap space with Taylor Decker contract restructure

The Detroit Lions had to create some cap space, and they’ve created some breathing room by restructuring left tackle Taylor Decker’s contract.

When the dust settled on player movement around final cuts and practice squad additions, the Detroit Lions were a shade over the salary cap threshold (according to Spotrac). So some contract maneuvering was coming before the season started.

An obvious candidate for a contract restructure was Taylor Decker. The Lions’ left tackle is under contract through 2024, with a void year in 2025, he’s a foundational piece and he had the second-highest cap hit on the roster for this year ($18.9 million).

Alas, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Lions have restructured Decker’s contract. The move will convert $6 million of his $14.75 million base salary into a signing bonus, and create $4.5 million in cap space. Signing bonus money is divided evenly over the remaining years of a contract, in terms of the cap hit.

Decker’s cap number for 2022, which you may have figured out already, is now $14.4 million.

Detroit Lions: A look at Taylor Decker’s contract after restructure

Over The Cap quickly updated Decker’s contract numbers.

2022: $14.4 million cap hit, $8.75 million base salary, $5.4 million prorated signing  bonus, $250,000 workout bonus

2023: $19.35 million cap hit, $13.7 million base salary, $5.4 million prorated signing bonus, $250,000 workout bonus Pre-June 1 cut: $17.2 miliion in dead money, $2.15 milliion cap savings, Post-June 1 cut: $7.9 million in dead money, $11.45 million in cap savings

2024: $19.1 million cap hit, $12.95 million base salary, $5.4 million prorated bonus, $500,000 roster bonus (due March 22), $250,000 workout bonus Pre-June 1 cut: $9.3 million in dead money, $9.8 million in cap savings Post-June 1 cut: $5.4 million in dead money, $13.7 million in cap savings.

Decker’s cap hits for 2023 and 2024 were previously $17.85 and $17.6 million respectively, and of course the void year cap hit for 2025 (all prorated signing bonus) went from $2.4 million to $3.9 million.

With the restructure, based on Spotrac’s previous numbers and assuming a pre-June 1 cut, the dead money hit for the Lions to cut Decker in 2023 ($12.5 million previously) and 2024 ($6.3 million previously) went up a good bit.

The Lions won’t necessarily be looking to move on from Decker before his contract expires, and they might extend him a couple more years by then. But he’s got some added security now, along with an instant $6 million signing bonus payment.