Lions could reasonably try to recoup part of Jameson Williams’ signing bonus

It can be a very slippery slope, but the Detroit Lions would not be out of bounds to try to recoup some of Jameson Williams’ signing bonus.

The NFL’s big embrace of gambling invites issues, and the latest one hit the Detroit Lions hard. On Friday four Lions players, headlined by wide receiver Jameson Williams, were suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy.

For betting on non-NFL games while in the team facility, essentially, with some leeway as to where he exactly was when he made said bets, Williams got a six-game ban. Whether he knew the rules and didn’t care enough to be careful, or didn’t know the rules for some inexplicable reason, he’s out the first six games of the 2023 season.

We already know Williams is set to lose over $7 million due to his suspension, via salary he’ll lose this year for six games and the voiding of future guaranteed salaries in 2024 and 2025. Signing bonus money is not subject to reduction based on a suspension.

The Cleveland Browns got around the signing bonus thing with the way they structured Deshaun Watson’s contract last year. An 11-game ban simply did not cost him that much money, based on a vet’s minimum base salary for 2022 ($1.035 million).

Lions can reasonably try to recoup a piece of Jameson Williams’ signing bonus

When Calvin Johnson retired early, the Lions tried to recoup some of his signing bonus. Or, allow him to keep it if he essentially made appearances for the team. That severed the relationship with one of the best players in franchise history for several years, albeit with notable improvement lately.

The situation with Williams is different. Way different.

Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac broke down the financial impliations for all five players suspended on Friday, including Williams of course. Ginnitti added a punch line layer to what we already know.

"The Lions may also look to recoup $823,290 of his signing bonus (6 weeks of his 2023 proration) per this suspension."

The prorated portion of Williams’ signing bonus for 2023 is $2,469,871, and one-third of that (six weeks) is $823,290.

The Lions would be within their rights to try to recoup that portion of Williams’ 2023 signing bonus money. Whether they do it or not is a different thing, lest they risk alienating Williams or having other players take issue with it.

Recouping that $823,000 would not be about the money for the Lions, or further punishing Williams financially. It would be about adding another deterrent to anyone else doing what got Williams and others suspended, and on that front it might just be worth it.