Detroit Lions Free Agents, The Draft, And The Salary Cap

The reigning and defending NFC North champion Detroit Lions are coming off their most successful season in over 30 years.

And with the Super Bowl now completed, it's now time to take a look at the off-season.  And that means the upcoming NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the start of NFL free agency (starting on March 13th), and then the NFL Draft in Detroit (at the end of April).

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So, where do the Lions stand (As of February 15th)???

Well, the Lions have nearly 30 free agents (Unrestricted, Restricted, or Exclusive Rights FA).  Among the unrestricted free agents are:  OG Jonah Jackson (pictured above), S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, special teams whiz Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and WR Josh Reynolds.

The main restricted FA's are:  DT Benito Jones, LS Scott Daly, and TE Brock Wright.

They have only two ERFA's this off-season, but they're significant:  DL James Houston, and DB Khalil Dorsey.

According to spotrac.com/nfl, The Lions have just under $50 million in salary cap space for the 2024 season.  That's just an estimation because the official salary cap numbers won't be released until March.  They should have plenty of money to be able to sign all of their draft picks and pick up a few free agents to help the defense.

And what about the Draft???

The Lions have seven picks coming up this spring (barring trades):

1st Round:  Pick #29

2nd Round:  Pick #61 overall

3rd Round:  Pick #73 overall (from Minnesota in the TJ Hockenson trade)

4th Round:  No Pick (given up in the aforementioned Hockenson trade)

5th Round:  Pick #162 overall

6th Round:  Pick #206 overall

7th Round:  Pick #246 overall

The Lions have some very prominent players entering the final year of their contracts in 2024.  I will go over those tomorrow.