Lions News

[froot loops]

Between Harris and Gardner-Johnson they are in good shape at that nickle/hybrid safety role. They have depth in the secondary where last year they had to get by with scraps by the end of the year. I think the price for Gardener-Johnson was a little pricey but not by enough to worry about.

[Futureshock]

If you look on over the cap, it appears Romeo Okwara has taken a pay cut like Harris did, but I have not heard any news on that. At any rate, it has the Lions currently at 26 million in cap space but it doesn't have Glasgow or Gardner-Johnson yet on the books.

• 2023 Salary Cap Charge: $5,647,059 (2.49% of cap)
• 2023 Cash Payout: $2,500,000 (1.43% of spending)
• 2023 Cash to Cap Ratio: 0.44

• Contract Value: $2,500,000 ($2,500,000 APY)
• Fully Guaranteed Money: $2,000,000
• Contract Ranking: 69/202 at EDGE

2022 OTC Valuation: $857,000
Current Contract

(Other, signed 2023)

(📝: indicates contract trigger occuring during that year)

2023 📝	28	$2,000,000	$3,500,000	$500,000		$5,647,059	2.5%		$7,000,000	($1,352,941)
2024	29	Void	$3,500,000	Void		$3,500,000	1.4%		$3,500,000	$0
Total		$2,000,000	$7,000,000	$500,000		$9,147,059

[Futureshock]

Report: C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed for less with Lions than he could have gotten from Eagles

Posted by Mike Florio on March 20, 2023, 9:25 AM EDT

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On Sunday, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson — one of the top available free agents this year — accepted a one-year contract with the Lions. Could Gardner-Johnson have remained with the Eagles?

Apparently, yes.

Here’s a tweet from Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia: “I’m told the Eagles did indeed make an offer at the start of free agency, but it wasn’t what C.J. wanted, and he turned it down, and by the time he realized he had misjudged the market, the Eagles had moved onto other priorities. So he signed for less with Detroit.”

Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer made a similar observation. The Eagles made a multi-year offer. Gardner-Johnson wanted more. The Eagles allocated their resources toward re-signing cornerback James Bradberry and working out a new deal with cornerback Darius Slay.

The Eagles will undoubtedly tiptoe around the situation. But, yes, this is what happens when a top free agent ends up taking a one-year deal. He passed on one or more multi-year offers when he expected more, one or more teams burned through their budgets on other players, and by the end of the first week of free agency, the money that previously was on the table is gone forever.

The Eagles might not be the only team that offered Gardner-Johnson more on a long-term deal than what he accepted from the Lions. Regardless, Gardner-Johnson is hardly the first, and hardly the last, to want more than the market would bear, and to eventually settle for something far less than he wanted on a one-year deal that gives him a chance to accept the best long-term offer a team will make in 2024.

[froot loops]

Here is the news

[Futureshock]

THey all must be woke!



Lions players are going CRAZY after adding C.J. Gardner-Johnson

[Futureshock]

Here is the news

Thanks for having something good to add sir

[Futureshock]

Lions gain cap space by reworking Romeo Okwara’s contract

Posted by Josh Alper on March 20, 2023, 9:22 AM EDT

Getty Images

The Lions picked up some cap space by addressing defensive end Romeo Okwara‘s contract.

Field Yates of ESPN reports that the team reworked its deal with Okwara recently. His cap hit went from $14.5 million to $5.647 million as a result of the alteration to the deal.

Okwara is in the final year of his contract, although there is a void year in 2024 to spread out the remaining cap hit.

Okwara had 10 sacks for the Lions in 2020, but tore his Achilles in 2021 and has been limited to nine games over the last two seasons. He had 14 tackles and three sacks in those appearances and the Lions will be hoping for better health in 2023.

[Futureshock]

A game changing DT is all that's left for that DL.

[Mainevent]

CJGJ agent counters that the Eagles offered a 1 year deal masquerading as a 3 year deal.

[Futureshock]

[froot loops]

When you add the savings from the Harris and Okwara pay cuts, it is nearly the effect of what the cap savings is nearly the same as it would have been if they cut them. I don't ever remember the Lions being this effective in free agency and using the salary cap. They are actually doing the Patriot Way now.

[BJK]

It wouldn’t surprise me if we hear about Vaitai’s contract being addressed somehow next.

[Futureshock]

It wouldn’t surprise me if we hear about Vaitai’s contract being addressed somehow next.

I hope we still invest into a really good OG in the first 2 days of the draft.

Big men with bad backs aren't a great success recipe.

[Futureshock]

CJGJ agent counters that the Eagles offered a 1 year deal masquerading as a 3 year deal.

More...
C.J. Gardner-Johnson joins the Lions on a one-year deal

Posted by Mike Florio on March 19, 2023, 9:55 PM EDT

Getty Images

The Eagles have lost another free agent.

Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, whose extended stay on the open market pointed to an inevitable one-year deal, has indeed done a one-year deal, with the Lions.

The news comes from multiple reports; ESPN and NFL Media conflict on the value of the deal. ESPN has the deal as being worth “up to $8 million,” which NFL Media calls it an $8 million contract.

Either way, it’s millions short of whatever Gardner-Johnson targeted on a multi-year deal, or he would have had one. As noted on Saturday, players who remain available this far into the process usually have overshot their market.

For Gardner-Johnson, he’ll get a chance to build on a season that saw him intercept six passes in 12 games, and try again next year.

[Cody_Russell]

I’m relieved to read that this R Okwara move doesn’t push that $9M cut into the future. Rather, it’s an extremely team friendly move where Okwara can earn some back. A simple massive pay cut. Love to see it for the team.

Free agents like CJGJ signing here and pay cuts like that? Damn, things are truly looking different.