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The Detroit Lions were unlikely to win many games in 2021 thanks to the franchise overhaul that left the team thin on talent at a lot of spots. The new regime flushing away the vestiges of the failed Bob Quinn/Matt Patricia era was always going to take some time and leave the Lions shorter on talent than most foes.
But through four weeks, the Lions are also facing an additional barrier to winning. The injuries have been catastrophic to the team’s chances to compete. And the list keeps getting longer and more critical by the week, unfortunately.
It comes at a cost. The Lions are currently paying $32.4 million in 2021 cap room to players who enter Week 5 on injured reserve. Because the Lions carried over unused cap room from 2020, their cap figure for the 2021 season is $197.7 million. That’s over 16 percent of the cap devoted to players who are unavailable due to injury.
This is the current list of players on the Lions injured reserve after the team placed top pass rusher Romeo Okwara and Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow on the list this week. Okwara is out for the season with a torn Achilles and Ragnow is expected to miss at least a month with a toe injury.
| Player | Pos. | 2021 cap figure
(in millions) |
| Jeff Okudah | CB | $7.62 |
| Taylor Decker | LT | $4.9 |
| Romeo Okwara | OLB | $4.5 |
| Frank Ragnow | C | $4.07 |
| Tyrell Williams | WR | $3.0 |
| Tim Boyle | QB | $2.38 |
| Tyrell Crosby | OT | $2.25 |
| Da’Shawn Hand | DE | $1.09 |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton | LB | $.92 |
| Ifeatu Melifownu | CB | $.65 |
| Kevin Strong | DE | $.51 |
| Joel Heath | DT | $.47 |
While they’re not on injured reserve, a few other Lions have either missed the Week 4 game in Chicago or appear destined to miss the Week 5 matchup in Minnesota. The most notable of those is the highest-paid player on the roster, outside linebacker Trey Flowers. He counts $19.9 million in 2021 cap room and hasn’t played in two weeks, though he is trending towards playing on Sunday.
First-round rookie Penei Sewell appears unlikely to play in Minnesota after injuring his ankle. Sewell, who starts at left tackle in place of Decker, carries a $4.38 million cap hit.
Now, factor in the Lions’ dead cap room in 2021. No team pays more to players who are no longer on the roster than the Lions, a function of the regime and scheme changes. Detroit is paying over $57 million in dead cap money to the likes of Matthew Stafford ($19 million), Justin Coleman ($6.1 million), Jamie Collins ($5.53 million) and others.
Add the dead cap money and the funds tied up in players on injured reserve and the Lions have devoted $89.8 million to guys who cannot contribute in Week 5. That’s over 45 percent of their cap spending on players who will not be suited up on Sunday — and that’s if Flowers plays. If he’s out, the figure jumps well over 55 percent.
It’s hard enough to win in the NFL with a full complement of players. The Lions are without almost half of their cap resources and a significant portion of their top talents on either side of the ball.