One day before their first game of the 2026 regular season, the Lions have cleared a sizable chunk of cap space.
And all that it implies.
As reported by the folks at Spotrac, the Lions have restructured the contracts previously signed by receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and tackle Penei Sewell.
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For Brown, the Lions converted $26 million of base salary into a signing bonus. That creates $20.8 million in cap space.
Sewell’s contract had $18.6 million in base salary converted into a signing bonus. The move opens up another $14.8 million in cap space.
Most if not all veteran contracts give the team the ability to restructure the deal, every year. And it’s a simple move. The chunk of salary that becomes a signing bonus is then spread over five seasons, with 80 percent of the payment being pushed into future cap years.
With the cap always going up, the move reduces the relative impact of those cap dollars, while giving the team more flexibility in the current year.
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For the Lions, that means another $35.8 million in cap space available for 2026. Which officially puts them on the unofficial Maxx Crosby watch list, along with the Cowboys.
Crosby has a $30 million salary in 2026. And the Raiders already tried to trade him once this year, to the Ravens. If the season unfolds for Las Vegas in the same way that most seasons since 2002 have gone (with the exception of 2016 and 2021), the Raiders may decide to try to trade him again — and Crosby may welcome an in-season move to a contender.
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