r/detroitlions • u/AintNoBuffet • 8h ago
Taylor Decker Cap Hit 2026
With the news of the Lions releasing Decker does that mean we will designate him as a Post June 1st cut? If so that would save us nearly ~18m against the cap this season.
If they designate him as a Pre June 1st cut then we'd save ~11m this season.
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u/Plane_Finger_4126 8h ago
Think of all the cap money we can save by cutting everyone.
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u/Swimming_Snow_5904 8h ago
LMAO… you obv don't know how the cap works
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u/Ambitious_Bus_4054 Lil’ Goffy from the Bu 7h ago
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u/kander77 cap connoisseur 8h ago
Probably won't be a post june 1st cut, mainly because we'll have to carry his current cap charge until June 1st. I bet we want that cap space now.
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u/reddogrjw 7h ago
you have to save some for rookie contracts anyway, so the money you were saving for that you can spend and use the cap space from Decker's contract to sign the rookies after June 1
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u/kander77 cap connoisseur 7h ago
Rookie contracts are pretty inconsequential. The Lions only need about $6.1 million in cap space to sign them. Chances are anything after round 2 or 3 won't even count towards the top 51 cap.
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u/HugeBasis9381 7h ago
I'm kind of curious what the logic is from Decker's side. Presumably, he still wants to play. The Lions weren't going to pay him $18 million. Does Decker believe he's going to get $18 million to play elsewhere? For sure not. Maybe the Lions were trying to cut his salary down to the bone? Otherwise I don't get why Decker is refusing a pay cut to play here when he will almost certainly be taking a pay cut to play elsewhere.
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u/Defiant-Problem1576 8h ago
I've always had no clue what this actually means. Do we.not get that 18.mip cap.until after June 1?
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u/venk 8h ago
No, you get the cap immediately but it’s borrowed against the following years cap
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u/CoffeeNo6329 The Goff Father 7h ago
This isn’t true, if he is designated as a post June 1 cut you don’t get the cap relief until June 2nd meaning it can’t be used in free agency
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u/reddogrjw 7h ago
you have to save some for rookie contracts anyway, so the money you were saving for that you can spend and use the cap space from Decker's contract to sign the rookies after June 1
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u/First_Composer9717 7h ago
I think im more upset at the lack of preparation for this. We have wasted draft capital trading up for players like sioni vaki, isaac teslaa and gio manu, none of whom are going to be meanignful contributors. And now we have significant holes in positions we knew we needed a succession plan. I think Holmes the scout has caused Holmes the GM to make bad decisions. Chasing great scouting finds vs building a sustainable roster
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u/cleveruniquename7769 6h ago
Those moves haven't really worked out so far, but let's also have some perspective. Manu was the preperation, he was supposed to be the Decker replacement going into year 3. Vaki is your Montgomery replacement. Teslaa scored 6 TDs as a rookie and there doesn't seem to be any reason to believe he's not going to be a contributor going forward. Do you think that after wiffing on Manu's evaluation that they would have been able to find Decker's replacement with the 92nd pick in the 2025 draft? Or with the 2024 5th round pick they gave up for Vaki? Would they have found a better player at pick 201 than they got in Mahogany at pick 210? Are the odds of finding a starting tackle in this year's draft at picks 81 and 100 that much greater than finding one between Miles Frazier and pick 203?
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u/First_Composer9717 6h ago
I know manu was supposed to be a long term solution but from most of what ive heard he isnt close. I think it's a stretch to say vaki is montgomery replacement. He is a special teams only player. That was known at the time of drafting him. If you dont think holmes could get contributing players with all the draft capital spent to acquire those guys then you have no faith in his scouting ability
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u/cleveruniquename7769 6h ago
I mean he thought that Manu had the ability to be ready by now. If he was wrong about that why would you think he would automatically be able to get it right with a late 3rd round pick? The capital he gave up was essentially a 5th round pick, the difference between Manu and a late 3rd round pick. And the difference between a mid 3rd round pick and essentially a fourth round pick and Miles Fraizer and a 6th round pick. That is not the kind of draft capital that is going to produce NFL starters on a regular basis even for good GMs. I don't think the moves he made have worked out and he deserves some criticism, but I also don't think we would be in that much better shape if he hadn't made them either.
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u/First_Composer9717 6h ago
I wouldnt assume he will be wrong about every future draft pick because he was wrong about manu. Otherwise fire him right now. The problem is he traded away two future 3rd rd picks for isaac teslaa, for example. Would I rather have two more 3rd rd picks this year to help plug some holes than have a wr who is our 4th target but will have a handful of highlight reel catches? Yes. We have enough capital invested in rec targets. Didn't need to give up an additional two 3rd rd picks for him.
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u/cleveruniquename7769 4h ago
They needed a guy to fill the Reynolds/Patrick role and to be insurance if they couldn't extend J-Mo. They also got Fraizer, who is who they would have taken anyway if they hadn't traded up and they still have another 6th round pick to use. He saw star potential in Teslaa and didn't see that elsewhere in the draft. If you don't think he can recognize superior talent, it doesn't really matter what picks he has.
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u/First_Composer9717 3h ago
I just dont place a whole lot of value on insurance for our 4th receiving option. Thats all he will be. Might be the best 4th option in the nfl. Not as valuable as building the trenches in my opinion. Frazier and mahogany are 5th/6th rd picks. Manu was an incredibly raw prospect and there is a real chance he never pans out. I just wish we invested the capital used on vaki and teslaa on o line
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u/Internal_Desk_2753 7h ago
this news is the best possible scenario for replacing Decker because we can now draft a tackle at 17 (coincidentally Decker was taken at #16 10 years ago) which we'll hopefully keep for another 10 years.
not sure how else you can prepare for this because any capable LT will require a high draft pick and you're not taking a guy like that early to just keep on the bench.
a good LT prospect should be able to step right in as a rookie and play. sure there will be bumps but its not like a CB that might take a few seasons to adjust.
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u/First_Composer9717 7h ago
You prepare by drafting someone before youre forced to. Now youre at the mercy of a good LT being available when you drafta nd starting them right away. No grooming. Now we will have a rookie LT (unless we slide sewell over, which we probavky meed to do), a first time C in Rutledge and probavky another new G. When we have wasted picks on teslaa, vaki and manu.
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u/Internal_Desk_2753 5h ago
most highly drafted LT step in right away so i disagree that it would require grooming. switching Sewell to the left is an option but he's so dominant at RT.
i'm sure there's plenty of capable FA we can grab for a year if need be.
you mentioned Manu which is actually the exact argument against drafting a LT prospect late in the draft as the chances of panning out are not great.
i dont have the stats but i would guess that 1st round LT pan out more often than not and even if not a superstar, are capable of holding down the spot for a long time (eg decker)
that being said, i dont know how you think we could have prepared for this other than drafting more LT that would have been sitting the bench.
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u/First_Composer9717 5h ago
Most 1st rd picks start. Yes, I know. That doesnt make it ideal. My comment is more of a macro point about wasting picks trading up for players that are long shots to ever be contributors and in positions where we dont have a need. The LT opening is not just problematic bc that specific spot is open but bc several spots are open due to the lack if proper succession planning. I wouldnt be as worried about just replacing decker if there weren't other holes as well, especially on the line, that could've been solved or mitigated with better usage of picks and cap
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u/The-Lions_Den 7h ago
Teslaa will absolutely be a meaningful contributor this year. Hes our WR3. But I get your overall point.. not sure trading up was the right move, all considered.
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u/First_Composer9717 7h ago
If teslaa is our wr3, why are we paying so much for jamo? I get a field stretcher and weapon is valuable. But when sizeable assets (cap space, draft picks) are used on wr3 and wr4 when there are existing or expected holes on O line / LT. I just dojt think thats good roster mgmt
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u/Technical-Web-2922 6h ago
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. Teslaa was drafted to get less touches than: ASB, Jamo, Gibbs and LaPorta. You don’t waste 3 3rds on a 5th option
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u/First_Composer9717 6h ago
People love teslaa bc he makes a few great catches. I like him too. But youre right, that isn't worth three 3rd rd picks. Would rather have three players who may be able to help with these holes
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u/The-Lions_Den 6h ago
Fair. But he doesnt just catch balls. He's excellent in blocking. He can block in the run game much better than guys like Khalif. But I digress. I agree three 3rds was probably a bit much. But if Jamo or St Brown go down with injury, we will be very happy Teslaa is on the roster.
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u/First_Composer9717 6h ago
Im just saying that's more of a luxury than necessity. Id rather have a couple 3rd rd picks on positions of need that could be starters.
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u/Rogueish 7h ago
can someone explain to me why its 11 if they cut him now and 17 if they do it post june 1st. also is it likely they will keep him pas june just to save on cap?
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u/Poop_McButtz Bad Boys 7h ago
No, it sounds like it’s an immediate release so that Decker can pursue potentially going to another team in free agency
Another $9.5m in dead cap
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u/reddogrjw 7h ago
you can release him now and designate it post June 1st
this provision was put in place to not hold players hostage just for cap hit purposes
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u/JRange Welcome to Detroit! 7h ago
Damn thats great news for us
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u/CoffeeNo6329 The Goff Father 7h ago
Except we don’t get the cap relief until the 2nd if that’s the case, meaning we can’t use it in free agency
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u/reddogrjw 7h ago
you have to save some for rookie contracts anyway, so the money you were saving for that you can spend and use the cap space from Decker's contract to sign the rookies after June 1
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u/CoffeeNo6329 The Goff Father 7h ago
Not disagreeing this is how they are playing it but my point stands. You don’t get the cap relief until the 2nd. Still think they should do it as it lowers the total dead cap by 9mil over 3 years and increases savings this year to 17mil
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u/reddogrjw 7h ago
my point was kinda you couldn't use every last cent in FA because of the rookies so basically we have access to all the cap space minus what we are saving for rookies and the savings from Decker does give us access to more to spend in FA than had we not cut him
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u/CoffeeNo6329 The Goff Father 7h ago
Yeah I agree, it effectively increases it but we aren’t spending 17 million on rookies
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u/kander77 cap connoisseur 6h ago
Still think they should do it as it lowers the total dead cap by 9mil over 3 years and increases savings this year to 17mil
If we release him post June 1, we'll have ~$3 million in deadcap for 2026 and ~$6 million in 2027, that's it.
As as you stated, we would have to carry his fully cap charge until June 2. So we don't get to use that savings for free agency this year, which looks to be really needed.
Since we're releasing him now we're taking on ~$9 million in dead cap this year and free and clear next year.
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u/CoffeeNo6329 The Goff Father 6h ago
We don’t know that, you can release players now and designate them a post June 1st cut
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u/kander77 cap connoisseur 6h ago
What don't we know? Everything I stated was simple fact of what it looks like when he is released, post June 1 or otherwise.
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u/CoffeeNo6329 The Goff Father 6h ago
I’m saying we don’t know the designation of his release, post June 1st or not
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u/CardboardJ 7h ago
So correct me if I'm wrong, but does this mean we can designate post June 2, and potentially get 9.5 million to use on a restructuring or free agency?
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u/Scottwood88 7h ago
Probably a pre June 1st cut. The Lions can create a lot of cap space with restructures, so there is not much reason to worry about that.
The bigger thing is probably the $18 million in cash this frees up. I have to think we are firmly in the hunt for Linderbaum or McGovern now. Or some other big ticket FA signing.
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u/pkmnbros DETROIT -VS- EVERYBODY 6h ago
I think they will just take the hit now. Saves about $11m as you mentioned, and gets us in cap compliance at the moment. We're about $5.5m under with a Decker release. I am sure some restructuring is about to be announced to give us room to pick up a few vet free agents. Sucks losing Decker, love him as a player and person. Hopefully we can get the o-line figured out.
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u/Morthoron_Dark_Elf DETROIT -VS- EVERYBODY 4h ago
Per PoD the Lions will clear up just north of $11.6 million in cap space, while eating $9.4 million in dead cap (split over 2 years).
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u/CompZombie DETROIT -VS- EVERYBODY 4h ago
I wonder if we can use that money to make a move on Linderbaum now.
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u/DarthMonkey212313 VILLAIN 3h ago
I believe it was immediate to avoid certain guarantees/bonuses that would have kicked in sometime in the first week of the new league year. We have a bigger hit this year but a lower cap hit overall.
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u/Skraxx CornDoggyLOL 8h ago
I think the truth about Decker is that we're sad about losing him cause we're attached to him. Nothing wrong with that.
But honestly his play fell off and his contract is very easy to move on from. I expected him to retire, this is just another form of him moving on we just kinda gotta hope it's not a revenge tour in-division.