The NFL has announced the salary cap for the 2026 season to be $301.2 million. The Kansas City Chiefs had already taken a step to be under the cap by restructuring the contract of Patrick Mahomes.

And while the Detroit Lions are yet to take a step in that direction, it does seem like thier QB, Jared Goff, might live the same fate as Mahomes did with the Chiefs.

Goff is currently playing on a 4-year, $212 million contract with the Lions that runs through the 2028 NFL season. Now the problem is that his base salary jumps dramatically from $18 million to $55 million. He has the 4th highest cap hit in the 2026 season at $69.6 million.

Patrick Mahomes was on the same boat. Before the restructure, his 2026 cap hit was around $78 million. But then the Chiefs converted about $54.45 million of his 2026 salary and roughly $10.4 million of his roster bonus into a signing bonus.

Due to this, his cap number for 2026 dropped to about $34.6 million, which created roughly $43-44 million in salary cap space. The Lions are currently $3.7 million over the cap and can free up about $40 million if they convert $50 million of that salary into a signing bonus.

Then Goff's 2026 cap breakdown would be $5 million in base salary, $14.6 million in existing signing bonus proration, and $10 million in new signing bonus proration. His cap will come down to $29.6 million. But that $40m cap hit doesn’t disappear. It’s kicked down the road into future caps.

And Goff Might Not Be the Only One To Suffer Patrick Mahomes Like Fate

The Detroit Lions have already traded David Montgomery, which has created $3.5 million in salary cap space. Graham Glasgow was also released in a cap-saving move that clears about $5.5 million in salary cap space. But there are a few other contracts the Lions can restructure.

Amon-Ra St. Brown signed a 4-year, $120 million extension with the Detroit Lions in April 2024. Alim McNeill agreed to a 4-year, $97 million extension in October 2024. And then there is Penei Sewell, who signed a 4-year, $112 million extension in April 2024.

All three of them all have high salary numbers that can be partially restructured into signing bonuses to increase cap space. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Joyita Das