The details and fine print from the new Jamie Collins contract with the Detroit Lions have become available. It shows the Lions jumping on the increasingly popular bandwagon of voidable years to spread out the salary cap hit.
Collins agreed to restructure his three-year, $30 million contract with the Lions after one season to help Detroit’s stressed cap situation. Collins converted $7.925M of his 2021 salary and bonuses into a straight signing bonus.
The maneuver clears $6.34M of cap space in 2021 for the Lions. To help avoid swallowing a bigger poison pill, the Lions added three voidable seasons to the end of the contract. It will cost the team dead cap money during those years, but the expected rise of the cap makes that much more palatable than stuffing it all into 2021. The 2023-2025 seasons void automatically.
It’s the same cap manipulation the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off to keep LB Lavonte David.
