The Detroit Lions are a really good team with really good players. With that comes a lot of positives like winning, big plays, and fun. But it also comes with some negative stuff, like trying to figure out how you're going to keep the entire group together without losing someone.
There's been a lot of talk this summer about how the Lions are going to make things work, considering that they're soon expected to make Aidan Hutchinson probably the highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL for at least a few weeks until T.J. Watt and Micah Parsons pass him.
Then, after that, they have to likely make Jahmyr Gibbs the highest paid running back, Jameson Williams one of the highest paid receivers if he balls out this season, Sam LaPorta the highest paid tight end, Brian Branch the highest paid safety and then Jack Campbell could get a huge pay day if he has the top 10 linebacker season some project him to have.
That's a lot for sure, and some have often thought that this is going to cause the Lions to have an odd man out. The most popular choice there is Williams because it makes the most sense that you'd take out what would probably be the most expensive contract of the bunch. Others have thought Sam LaPorta would be the odd man out.
What if there didn't have to be one at all? There is a way that the Lions could get all of these guys under contract, and it's a relatively new tactic called void years.
For those unfamiliar with void years, here is how Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap explains them:
"Think of it as a way to finance a purchase that you probably can’t afford, but you are doing whatever you can to stretch your money as much as possible. These are years in a contract that are essentially 'dummy years' where you can dump salary cap charges in the future rather than taking the salary cap hit now for the player. For example, let’s say a team only has $4 million in cap room but wants to sign a player to a one-year $10 million contract. You can not afford the $10 million in 2023, so you pay the player an $8 million signing bonus and add four 'void years,' which allows you to buy the player this year for just $3.6 million on the cap and then defer the other $6.4 million to the future."
That right there is how the Lions can secure all their guys. Everyone has to take on void years and have their money stretched out. The Lions are already doing this with some of their biggest players like Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
For example, let' break down St. Brown's three void years.
In 2029, he has a void year with a $16.7 million cap (dead money from $6.7 million option bonus proration and remaining signing bonus)
In 2030, he has a void year with a $5 million cap hit (dead money from option bonus proration)
In 2031, he has a void year with a $5 million cap hit (dead money from option bonus proration)
If the Lions don't have those three void years on St. Brown's deal, their cap goes up from 2025 to 2028, and things get a lot more sticky when it comes to signing other players.
This is very likely the strategy the Lions will go with, and it would make a lot of sense since this is something that winning teams have been utilizing. The Philadelphia Eagles currently have 20 players under contract with void years. It can be done.
The risks that you run into are that you stock up a lot of dead money, and while dead money is ok and normal, a lot of dead money can be a problem. According to Fitzgeral, you could find yourself in a situation where you may have to hang onto a player you don't want to hang out with just to make the finances work.
"The downside to the void years is when you overutilize it for too many players or create scenarios where the cap hits to cut a player are so excessive that you get walked into an extension for salary cap purposes that you should never make. While some dead money is a good thing, excessive dead money is generally a very bad thing."
We'll see what happens to the Lions if they get to that point, but this is doable.
