The Detroit Lions have quite a few young players they are trying to re-sign to long terms deals. The team is aiming to sign as many of them as possible to keep its core intact. The latest player to get a new contract was linebacker Jack Campbell, who received a 4-year extension before offseason workouts.
Obviously, these contracts are and will continue to be expensive. The total value of Campbell’s deal is $81 million.
To help ease the financial burden, the Lions are using every tactic available to them. That includes having multiple void years in Campbell’s deal.
According to Spotrac, the linebacker’s full contract details reveal Campbell’s deal will include four void years from 2031-34. Over that four-year period, the linebacker will count as roughly a $25 million cap hit whether or not he’s on the team.
It will breakdown as so:
2031: $10.227 million cap hit
2032: $7.849 million cap hit
2033: $4.08 million cap hit
2034: $3.08 million cap hit
That will keep the linebacker’s cap hit manageable through the rest of the decade. The largest hit the Lions will have with this deal is about $24.12 million in 2029.
Jack Campbell Lions Contract Has Four Void Years
Including void years in a star player contracts has become a popular tactic around the league. Most notably, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who is known as a whiz with the league’s salary cap, uses void years all the time.
There are a few positives to the tactic. First, it lowers that players’s cap hit in the immediate future.
In Campbell’s case, he will be one of the highest-paid inside linebackers around the league. Yet, he will have an affordable cap hit for most of the duration of the deal.
The negative is the Lions might have Campbell’s cap hit on their salary cap when he’s no longer on the team next decade. But, by then, the league’s cap could be considerably higher. Except after the COVID-19 pandemic season, the NFL’s cap has increased every year for decades.
The league’s cap could significant jump in the next couple years with the NFL’s growth in streaming deals and international markets.
That will ease the burden of Campbell’s cap hit during the void years of the deal.
The void years could also be further pushed down the road if the linebacker signs another extension with the Lions.
Campbell Won’t Be NFL Free Agent Until 2031
Campbell isn’t a free agent until 2031. A lot can happen over several NFL seasons, so it’s anyone’s best guess if the linebacker gets another contract in Detroit.
But the linebacker is well on his way to becoming a player who stays with his original franchise over a very long period of time.
Last season, Campbell posted 176 combined tackles, including nine tackles for loss. He also had five sacks, four pass defenses and three forced fumbles. Behind those statistics, Campbell made first-team All-Pro and received his first Pro Bowl nomination.
Detroit drafted Campbell at No. 18 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. He hasn’t missed a game since debuting in September 2023.
Campbell has started every game over the past two seasons. In 51 games overall, he’s registered 402 combined tackles, including 19 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.
He’s eclipsed the 130-tackle mark each of the past two campaigns.
New Jack Campbell Contract Details to Help Lions Salary Cap Surface