The NFL has released adjusted 2023 salary cap figures for each team, and the Detroit Lions have a little more room to operate.
The NFL salary cap is real, even if teams have ways to manipulate it to create space in a current year in exchange for potential future cap pain. The cap for 2023 has been set at $224.8 millon, but via ESPN’s Field Yates the league has announced adjusted cap figures for each team.
Unused cap space from 2022 is rolled over, with adjustments for player incentives and roster bonuses to arrive at the final adjusted, team-specific number. Most teams land with more room to operate, sometimes significantly more, while a few get an adjusted cap number below the original number.
The NFL has finalized its year-end club adjustments, which factor in incentives, roster bonuses, carryover cap space, etc. That figure was then added to or subtracted from $224.8M to determine each team’s adjusted cap number for 2023.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2023
A look at each team’s adjusted cap number: pic.twitter.com/sxbs04nXE6
The Lions only added about $2.8 million to get to an adjusted cap number of $227,209,702. That puts them 20th in the league overall in cap space, with the Cleveland Browns on the high end ($251.77 million) and the Kansas City Chiefs ($220.447 million) on the low end. But adding space is certainly better than losing any room to operate financially.
Detroit Lions offseason plans not changing based on their adjusted cap number
When it comes down to it, the Lions’ offseason plans will not change at all with their adjusted salary cap number now set. They just didn’t get a lot more space. There are moves to make to clear more cap space, via cuts, restructures or even contract extensions, and $2.8 million is a small, fairly insignificant segment of the bigger picture. It’s not enough to blow other offers a notable free agent might get out of the water. Or enough to suddenly make a trade for a notable salary/cap hit more viable.
Again, gaining anything in adjusted cap space is definitely better than losing anything and it’s broadly interesting to see where every team in the league lands. But for the Detroit Lions in 2023, it’s not a huge needle mover.