Getty Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell walk on the field during Lions training camp in 2021.
The Detroit Lions will finish out the 2021 NFL season, but as they do that, thoughts will once again begin to drift to the offseason and how to improve a team that has found getting over the hump difficult this season.
Making those improvements will come much easier for the team if they have the appropriate amount of funds. The good news is it seems the Lions will have a decent amount of cash with which to operate in 2022 before any cuts are made from the team.
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After it was revealed that the NFL salary cap would be $208.2 million for 2022, a fresh look at the numbers was provided from Spotrac and Over The Cap courtesy of user Lions Royalty on Twitter. As it shows, the Lions are expected to start with just under $40 million in cap space next offseason.
Detroit, of course, could free up even more cap space with some cuts. There are multiple players who could be on the block for that, including key veteran names such as defensive lineman like Trey Flowers and Nick Williams, or an offensive lineman like Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
Overall, this isn’t a bad place for the Lions to start whatsoever when it comes to the money situation.
Lions’ 2022 Free Agency Primer
What will the Lions need to do with that money? For starters, the team will have to think about adding some offensive weapons to the mix. Detroit’s wideout group has lagged behind because of a lack of depth most of all in 2021, so making sure a top-flight wideout comes into the mix via trade or signing to help Jared Goff might be the top priority for the team. From there, the Lions need to think about bolstering the defense. Help could be needed up front and on the back end and potentially at linebacker as well.
In his first offseason, Lions general manager Brad Holmes shied away from big deals, focusing instead on smaller deals to help supplement his roster. Several of those deals have panned out, from names like Kalif Raymond to Charles Harris. The same approach could be expected this offseason, so the Lions might make one bigger splash while choosing to focus on multiple other smaller splashes to help supplement things.
Lions’ 2022 NFL Draft Primer
Detroit will continue to use the draft as the big way to build their roster. If the Lions manage to secure the top selection in the draft as most will hope they can do, there’s a multitude of ways they could elect to go with the pick given the unique needs of the roster. The team’s defense needs playmakers up front to rush the passer along the defensive line, and could also need depth on the back end at cornerback. Offensively, the Lions have a major need for a big time pass catching wideout to help their down field attack on offense. As always, quarterback is going to be a position to watch near the top of the draft, especially considering the early struggles of Goff with the Lions in 2021.
The good news for Detroit? They also have the first-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams by virtue of the Matthew Stafford trade for this year and next year, and figure to gain multiple compensatory selections for 2022 so some serious building can occur for the roster if the team manages to secure the top overall pick. Obviously, there is no shortage of needs for the team to ponder with all of their selections next year.
Some of those needs could be met in free agency first, so the fact that the Lions have around $40 million before cuts could only be interpreted as a good thing for their roster overall.
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