Getty Halapoulivaati Vaitai pounces on a fumble.
The Detroit Lions made the move to reach an agreement with offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai to a large contract, and that’s something many ripped the team for early on.
Vaitai hasn’t been a key NFL contributor for long with the Philadelphia Eagles, and has been up and down on the field, leading many to proclaim the move to sign him to a 5 year contract as a failure. The contract, though, has plenty of key details that were previously unknown that make the deal seem very team friendly when looked at under a wider microscope.
Adam Caplan revealed some of the details of the deal, and found it has an out after only 2 seasons. In 2020, he has a $4 million dollar fully guaranteed base salary, and that raises to $9 million in 2021. In other words, it’s not the horrible deal it seemed on the surface.
New #Lions starting RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai (Large V–my adjusted name for him) will earn $20m in first 2 seasons (all fully gtd). They can get out after 2 years, but will have paid him that $20m.
2020: $7m SB, $4m fully gtd base.
2021: $9m fully gtd base.
If the Lions don’t get solid play out of Vaitai, they can simply pull the rip cord on the deal and release him with smaller consequence. Obviously, though, the Lions are hoping that they can get great play out of their new tackle, and the 26 year old comes into his own and plays well enough to last through his contract and excel through it.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai Agrees With Lions
NFL insider Adam Caplan first revealed that the Lions would be signing Vaitai to a five year contract that would be worth $50 million dollars. Now, we know that number is closer to $45 million.
As Caplan also noted, Vaitai is likely to play right tackle for the Lions.
Big V will play RT for the #Lions, which had been the expectation for him from the teams I spoke with at the combine.
Vaitai will now replace the released Rick Wagner up front in Detroit.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai Statistics
Vaitai, out of TCU, is only 26 years old and has 20 career starts under his belt from his time with the Eagles. Vaitai has also played in 55 NFL games in his career, and was a former fifth round pick of the Eagles in 2016.
Vaitai helped the Eagles win Super Bowl LII, and is an up and coming lineman. The team will now try to change their fortunes up front with a key free agent who can play either tackle spot or guard, even though Vaitai is an offensive tackle by trade.
That versatility was likely the huge selling point in the end for the Lions, as Caplan pointed out.
Lions Cap Space in 2020
Detroit still has a decent chunk of change to spend this offseason, having restructured Matthew Stafford’s deal coming into the offseason and completed numerous releases to push their cap space to just over $50 million dollars. After the signings and reported deals the team has made, Detroit could have over $20 million remaining to spend.
The Lions could always open up more space with a few savvy moves, and there could be other cap casualties that might impact the team’s final salary number more dramatically during March.
Vaitai will cost a decent chunk of change, but the deal might not be nearly as bad as many people thought in the beginning all things considered.