The Detroit Lions have officially restructured Jared Goff's contract, opening up $32 million in cap space ahead of free agency. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero was first with the news. The team converted his base salary into signing bonus to get this done. It increases the cap hit for Goff through 2028.
Goff has the largest deal on the Lions' books, so it makes sense that Detroit would want to hit his contract first before restructuring other deals, like that of Penei Sewell's contract or Alim McNeill's.
READ MORE: Lions Free-Agency Tracker 2026: Signings, departures, cap space analysis, and more
The quarterback is also the franchise signal caller, and isn't anticipated to be moved or cut anytime soon. Goff's deal has now been kicked down the road a bit by Brad Holmes and the Lions, which was one of their only solutions to actually being players in this year's free agency.
With several needs open for Detroit at edge rusher, guard, and potentially safety, they need all the help they can get before March 9. This is a great start on that front. And, with the Lions having gotten a ton of bargain signings already done for players like Cade Mays, Isiah Pacheco, Larry Borom, and Rock Ya-Sin, it seems like they're gearing up for a busy week.
If you're conspiracy-brained like me, then maybe you're looking at the recent Maxx Crosby developments and you're wondering about the viability of absorbing his deal with this move.
If you're more realistic, congratulations for being that way. And, you're likely of the mind that the Lions are probably just about to round out their free agency with some signings necessary to fill other roster holes ahead of the draft. They also just had to be under the cap before the start of the league year at 4pm EST today.
This article will be updated with further details as they become available.