Detroit Lions add noticeable dead money via contracts that have voided

As outlined by Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire, "void years" have become a tool in NFL contracts to manage the salary cap and the Detroit Lions have used them a lot. With that comes taking on some dead money in those years, and the Lions have greatly reduced those unintended obligations over the last couple years.

Friday marked five days after Super Bowl LVIII. That's become a common day for a player's contract to be set to void. The Lions had seven players with that void trigger. That does not mean they can sign anywhere right away. Just like any other player on an expired contract, they will still become an unrestricted free agent on March 13.

All seven void year players are on the Lions' list of 2024 unrestricted free agents. Re-signing any of them will not and cannot erase or otherwise reduce the dead money attached to them.

7 contract voids add a noticeable amount of dead money for Detroit Lions in 2024

The Lions already had some dead money, attached mostly to Marvin Jones ($800,000) and Isaiah Buggs ($500,000), for 2024. According to Over The Cap, here's what they've now added to that balance via Friday's contract voids.

OG Halapoulivaati Vaitai: $3,843,195
DE Romeo Okwara: $3,500,000
DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson: $2,500,000
DE Charles Harris: $1,988,334
OG Graham Glasgow: $1,470,000
CB Emmanuel Moseley: $1,000,000
QB Teddy Bridgewater: $5000,000
Total: $14,301,529

Now, the Lions' 2024 dead money balance is $15,732,839. That vaults them to the fourth-most dead money in the league right now, according to Over The Cap, but as other teams make cuts that standing will change for the better. Detroit is not likely to add a whole lot more 2024 dead money via any cuts they make.

Again, these contract void obligations were planned for and expected by general manager Brad Holmes and the front office. So while it might be jarring to see that kind of dead money added so suddenly, in the big picture of the entire league the Lions are still in good shape.