With contract voids that went into effect on February 16, the Detroit Lions added a significant amount of dead money to their 2024 balance sheet. Overall, though, they are still doing rather well. According to Over The Cap, they now have the eighth-most cap space in the league ($44.8 million), and if they so want, they can add even more through contract restructures.
To free up additional cap space, the Lions essentially don’t need to do anything. However, in general, there’s never too much cap space if there are plans to spend, especially if a substantial deal to add a veteran at a position of significant need is on the radar—and that is a huge “if” given the manner general manager Brad Holmes has demonstrated.
Even though there would be some dead money consequences in the long run, there are a few existing players that may be dropped in order to make room (the list isn’t very big).
With four relatively easy moves, the Lions could almost treble their existing cap space—all of which are more likely than not to occur.
After being a midsummer waiver claim and developing into a vital member of the defensive line with four sacks, twelve quarterback hits, and five tackles for loss, Cominsky was a revelation for the Lions in 2022. Re-signing him was essentially a no-brainer, and he was given a two-year contract.
In 2023, Cominsky participated in 16 games and made 11 starts. However, he only had two sacks, and for the regular season finale, he was a surprisingly healthy scratch. He had no effect in all three of the postseason’s 97 snaps. By removing Cominsky, $4.6 million in cap space would become available, leaving $1.7 million in dead money.
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