As expected, the Detroit Lions have restructured the contract of quarterback Jared Goff. The move reportedly clears $32 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap. That not only puts the Lions under the salary cap ahead of the start of the new league year next Wednesday, but it also creates significant cap space for Detroit to continue to be active in free agency.
A contract restructure is a relatively simple way for teams to move around money. In this case, Jared Goff’s $55 million guaranteed salary was all set to hit the salary cap this year. Instead, the Lions converted $40 million of that salary and turned it into a signing bonus. Nothing really changes for Goff—the money remains guaranteed—but the cap hit of that $40 million signing bonus is now spread evenly over the next five years—an extra $8 million per year.
It’s worth noting that the Lions opted not to maximize Goff’s restructure. They could have moved an additional $13 million(ish) of his 2026 salary into a signing bonus, but they opted not to spread that over the remaining years of his contract. That could be to limit the amount of cap hit they continue to push into the future, or it could be a sign they don’t intend on using all of that extra cap space this year.
Here’s a look at Goff’s cap hits for the next few years:
2026: $37.6 million
2027: $62.6 million
2028: $69.6 million
2029 (currently a voided year): $16 million in dead cap
Here’s a visual of the impact of the restructure, if it helps:
The Lions may not be done when it comes to creating cap space. While there aren’t many remaining options for cap casualties after the Lions released Graham Glasgow last week and Taylor Decker this week, the contracts of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell could be restructured to create over $35 million in cap space in 2026.
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