Getty Romeo Okwara on the field for the Lions in 2020.
As the Detroit Lions head into the 2023 offseason, thoughts will begin to shift to what’s next for the team in terms of preparation.
Sadly, one of the biggest stories at this point revolves around roster cuts, and which ones the Lions could make in order to help in creating more cap space and turning things around.
All teams are going to have big decisions to make when the time comes to make roster moves, but what are the biggest at this point in time? That was examined in a recent NFL.com piece by Gregg Rosenthal.
Rosenthal picked out the top offseason move for every NFC team, and when it came to the Lions, a release of Michael Brockers, Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Romeo Okwara was seen as paramount for the future.
“Michael Brockers, Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Romeo Okwara have all had good moments in Detroit, but weren’t able to play much in 2022. Releasing all three could save up to $30.5 million against the cap with post-June 1 cuts. Okwara and Vaitai could still have good football left and would be candidates to restructure. With D.J. Chark and Jamaal Williams both free agents, the Lions will want to free up money to spend even more on the skill positions,” Rosenthal wrote.
Cutting Brockers and Vaitai seems to be an easy idea for the Lions to save money relative to where each are on the ledger, but Okwara was a new addition to the list. The defensive end was lost most of the 2022 season recovering from an ACL injury, but has been productive in the past given his 23 sacks. Immediately upon his December return, he put up two sacks against the New York Jets.
In spite of this, he counts $14,500,000 against Detroit’s cap for the 2023 season, and the team may not be thrilled about his injury trajectory. That could certainly set the team up for a surprise move.
With these moves, the Lions might be better set up to handle the offseason. When the new league year starts on March 15, it will be important to watch and see if any of them come to fruition.
Players That Could Get Cut From Lions
The three names that Rosenthal mentions in his piece are all names that the Lions could elect to move on from in the coming days, as all eat up a considerable amount of cap space.
While Detroit’s expected cap total is near the top of the league right now, the reality is, things could get even better for the Lions once the offseason gets in full swing.
Leaving likely to return quarterback Jared Goff out of the matter, the Lions could still choose to make multiple cuts that could bump their cap total up even higher and allow them to compete for even more free agents on the open market.
Right now, the most obvious player that could be shown the door is Vaitai. While Vaitai had a solid 2021 season in Detroit, he has battled injuries most of his career with the Lions, and was shelved with a back injury most of 2022 at 30. That allowed other guards such as Evan Brown and Logan Stenberg to develop. Cutting Vaitai would save the Lions $9,400,000, but would come with a $5,896,389 dead cap hit.
In addition to Vaitai, another veteran might be jettisoned in the form of Brockers. Brockers put up just four tackles this season, was inactive several times and is the oldest player on the Lions at age 32. He’s a quality leader, but his days as an elite player are likely behind him. Brockers’ release would come with a dead cap tax of $3,975,000, but could make sense as Detroit tries to get better pieces up front.
Additionally, the Lions could let pending free agents like cornerback Amani Oruwariye and defensive back Will Harris walk, saving them money and allowing them opportunities to negotiate with others.
Detroit has wanted to get the youngest roster in the league trending in the right direction, and if these veterans are cut, it could offer even more help toward getting that done.
Lions Offseason Blueprint
Detroit has plenty of goals to achieve, and are already in some decent shape to do damage as it relates to filling them out.
Already, the Lions are seen to have a top 15 total in the league, placing 13th overall as PFF recently showed. As of now, the Lions have $14,025,618 to spend when the offseason begins. That total is just $2,572,898 away from a top 10 spot, held by the San Francisco 49ers.
In terms of what the Lions could be expected to do, the answers are mixed. The team has elected to sign in-house free agents under Brad Holmes the last two years while making only modest value buys across the roster elsewhere and building through the draft. Offensively, they could do that with Chark and Williams.
Help along the defensive line and specifically at defensive tackle would be a good idea for Detroit. Any available defensive tackles are sure to generate free agent interest from the team given needs for upgrades there. That’s similar at linebacker given their role against the run and the pass, too.
Detroit finished 32nd in total defense this past season, and struggled against both the run and the pass. Against the run, they finished 29th with a total of 2,491 yards allowed and 22 touchdowns. This proves their need for some impact players up front.
In the secondary, cornerback could be on the menu for the Lions early and often due to the fact that the team finished 30th in the league in pass defense, allowing 4,179 yards through the air. Any available veteran cornerbacks that fit the scheme are sure to attract interest from the team as a result of this.
Having enough money to keep key players while perhaps adding some others is going to be an important goal for Detroit. As some see it, the team might only get there with some hard decision making.