Draft 2021: Detroit Lions Roster Limit and Salary Cap Tracker

Heading into the 2021 Draft, the Lions are currently sitting on a roster comprised of 65 players with yesterday’s cut of TE Hunter Bryant and Salary Cap space of approximately $22M . With an offseason limit of 90 players (plus up to 5 tryout players at May Minicamp), the Lions have plenty of room to draft, add Undrafted free Agents (UDFAs) and Free Agents over the next couple of weeks.

Offseason Roster limit

As of this morning, the team has room to add up to 25 players to get to the offseason max of 90 players prior to the May minicamp. There are currently six draft picks slated for those 25 roster spots, so that leaves 19 UDFAs and/or Veteran Free Agents that can be signed once the draft ends on Saturday evening. It is unlikely the Lions will sign that many UDFAs, as Veteran players are a more proven commodity, especially in a year when medical, testing and in-person meetings were severely limited.

As far as Veteran Free Agents, it is important to note that the Compensation Window for Free Agents ends at 4:00pm EST on the Monday following the Draft, so any player signed starting after then will NOT count against the Lions Comp formula. The Lions are currently projected to get three comp picks by Over The cap in 2022 (3rd-Gollday, 5th-Jones & 6th-Agnew) and likely will not want to offset any more by signing any vets prior to the comp window closing on Monday.

Another note on roster limits, as the NFL recently limited teams to only hoisting five tryout players at the May Minicamps, so that will have an impact on the UDFA signings and Tryouts that typically starts being lined up in the 7th round and immediately after the draft ends on Saturday.

Salary Cap Implications

Based on figured recorded at both Over The Cap and Spotrac, the Detroit Lions have approximately $22M in Cap Space after their Top 51 contracts. With a rookie Draft Pool at $9,264,765 per Over The Cap (assuming no draft position changes) and their 1st, 2nd and both 3rd round picks expected to fall into the Top 51 contracts shaving another $4.3M off available space, that leaves the Lions with about $18M in cap space for the Top 51 contracts after signing their picks. This space will be reserved for use on UDFAs, veteran Free Agents and potentially save some for injury additions during the season.

With those numbers now know, it suggests that there will be a focus on cheaper Vets and more UDFAs to fill out the remaining 19 open roster slots once the draft concludes.