The Lions Spent More Money in 2017 Than Any Other NFL Team
The NFL Players Association released the cash value spending of every team in the 2017 season, and sitting at the very top of the pile is the Detroit Lions.
The Lions spent over $200 million last season which was 122% of the $167 million salary cap allotted for that year. NFL teams are permitted to roll over unused cap space from previous years.
Additionally, in the collective bargaining agreement between players and league, teams must spend an average of 89% of the salary cap over a four year window starting in 2017. Five teams failed to do this in 2017 but will have three years to up that average. The total league average must be at 95% of the cap, which it was in 2017 at 98.7%.
One interesting thing to note is that spending does not necessarily equal success. Of the top 10 teams in terms of spending only three made the playoffs this season. On top of that the seventh highest spenders were the Cleveland Browns, who lost all 16 of their games in 2017.