Detroit Lions restructure Carlton Davis' contract to create $4.5 million more in cap space

It's not the multi-year extension new Detroit Lions cornerback Carlton Davis III said he was open to after his trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Lions are tweaking Davis' contract for cap purposes.

The Lions converted $6 million of Davis' $14 million base salary for 2024 into a signing bonus and added three void years to the end of his contract, according to NFL Players Association records.

The changes, first reported by OverTheCap.com, lower Davis' cap hit from $14.3 million to $9.8 million this fall. Signing bonuses are prorated over the life of the contract for cap purposes, so the bonus counts $1.5 million against the cap this year. This will leave the Lions with $4.5 million in dead cap if they don't extend the cornerback before the end of the season.

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Davis, 27, said at his introductory news conference last week he is "definitely open" to a long-term extension to stay in Detroit, and expressed that interest to management. He is entering the final year of his current contract.

"But it’s still early," he said. "I just got here. Would love to sign here. Definitely want to get my feet wet first and get in the building before I start talking extension, but this is a great organization and it’s going — it’s like trending, it’s trending upward, so I would love to be a part of a dynasty where we can go and win multiple championships over the next couple of years."

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The Lions have about $28 million in cap space, before accounting for the addition of free agent D.J. Reader and the re-signings of receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones and cornerback Khalil Dorsey, whose contracts have not yet been filed with the NFLPA.

The Lions also used a void year at the end of Marcus Davenport's one-year free agent deal to lessen his cap hit for 2024.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him@davebirkett.