The free agent contract Tyrell Williams signed with the Detroit Lions is much more palatable to both the salary cap and the Lions fan base than initially reported.
Details of the deal are now public, and the fine print shows the Lions got a much more cap- and team-friendly deal than was originally thought. It’s a one-year deal but the team added a voidable second season to spread out the cap hit and bonus amortization. For 2021, Williams will earn a $2 million base salary which is fully guaranteed. There is also a $2 million signing bonus that gets split over the two seasons.
The total deal costs the Lions just $3 million against the cap in 2021. There are $2.2 million in additional incentives, but none of those apply to the cap this coming season. Earlier reports on the Williams contract included these incentives as guaranteed base salary, which proved to be erroneous. If Williams does attain the incentives–which are not clearly defined to the public yet–he will earn the maximum contract value of $6.2 million.
