Inside the numbers
Here are the full details of Cam Sutton’s deal:
OL Nelson also gets a new deal
The Detroit Lions kept another one of their own free agents off the market Tuesday, resigning backup offensive tackle Matt Nelson.
Nelson has been a key reserve for a Lions offensive line that’s ranked among the best in the NFL the past two years.
He started 11 games in 2021, playing both left and right tackle, and made 11 appearances as the team’s swing tackle last season.
Nelson was eligible for restricted free agency this week, but the Lions declined to tender him a right of first refusal offer of $2.627 million. Absent a new contract, he would have been an unrestricted free agent at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa in 2019, Nelson spent a year transitioning from defensive line to offensive tackle on the Lions practice squad before playing as a sixth lineman in 2020.
The Lions will return at least four of their five offensive line starters this fall: Left tackle Taylor Decker, left guard Jonah Jackson, center Frank Ragnow and right tackle Penei Sewell.
Details of Sutton’s deal
The Lions used one of their favorite methods to maximize current-year cap space with their newest big-ticket signing.
The Lions included two voidable years at the end of new cornerback Cam Sutton’s contract, according to details of the deal filed with the NFL Players Association and first published by A to Z Sports.
Sutton’s three-year, $33 million deal includes a $10.9 million signing bonus and low first-year base salary of $1.1 million.
With two extra voidable years to spread the signing bonus proration, Sutton will carry a cap hit of just $3.28 million in 2023.
The Lions entered the free agent negotiating period with about $21 million in cap space and freed up an additional $5 million Tuesday by converting some of safety Tracy Walker’s $8.95 million base salary to signing bonus, according to ESPN.
Signing bonuses are treated differently than base salary for cap purposes. While a player’s full base salary counts against that year’s cap, signing bonuses are spread evenly over the life of the contract, up to five years.
Sutton’s deal includes base salaries of $10.5 million in 2024-25, with $9 million of next year’s salary fully guaranteed and the rest becoming guaranteed on the third day of the 2024 league year.
The Lions have used dummy years to minimize their first-year cap charges on a number of big signings in recent years, including receiver DJ Chark (who signed a one-year, $10 million contract last spring with two voidable years).
The downside to using voidable years is they leave teams with dead cap hits after a player’s contract expires. Chark, who will be an unrestricted free agent at 4 p.m. Wednesday, will count about $6 million against the Lions cap in 2023 in dead money.