Lions go heavy with void years on D.J. Reed's contract; add veteran depth at cornerback

Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin has played with four teams over the past four seasons, including San Francisco in 2024. (Getty Images)

Allen Park — A week after the contract was signed, the numbers are in for cornerback D.J. Reed's deal with the Detroit Lions.

The reported figures — three years, $48 million, with $32 million in guarantees — were surprisingly accurate. What's intriguing is how the Lions structured the deal, backloading it in an extreme way with void years. This will leave a hefty dead-money cap hit at the end of the contract or if the team cuts ties after two seasons.

Here's the breakdown:

Reed's contract has four void years, which allows bonus money to be further spread out for cap purposes. This reduces the cap hits in 2025, 2026, and potentially 2027.

The deal includes a $15.235 million signing bonus. The cap allows that to be spread over five years, so $3.047 million will count against the cap each year from 2025-29, two years after the deal expires. I'll discuss that more later.

Reed's base salaries for the next three seasons are $1.255 million in 2025, $14.49 million in 2026 and $1.345 million in 2027. He has $30,000 in per-game bonuses — up to $510,000 each year — and a $500,000 roster bonus in 2027.

Here's where the deal gets interesting. Instead of a hefty base salary in the final year of the contract, the team has a $13.645 million option bonus instead. If exercised by the Lions that offseason, it will operate like a signing bonus, allowed to be spread across five years for cap purposes. That's $2.729 million in 2027 and $2,729,000 in each of the four void years through 2031.

But that's artificial. The way the cap works is that once a player is off the roster, the remaining cap hit is due for the upcoming season. So if the Lions never restructure Reed's contract and exercise the option in 2027, they would carry a $17.01 million dead money hit in 2028. That figure represents a lingering two-fifths of the signing bonus and four-fifths of the option bonus.

Alternatively, suppose the Lions don't exercise the option, parting ways with Reed ahead of the 2027 season. In that case, they'd only be on the hook for the remaining three-fifths of the signing bonus ($9.141 million).

Got all that?

Even if you don't, here are the numbers you really care about: The cap hits. In 2025, Reed will have a cap hit of $4.722 million. That's his $1.255 million base salary, a $3.047 million prorated portion of his signing bonus and $510,000 in per-game bonuses.

That figure jumps to $18.047 million in 2026 with his sharply increasing base salary. And if the Lions exercise the option bonus in 2027, Reed will count just $8.131 million against the cap. Interestingly, it would cost more against the cap to cut him ahead of that season ($9.141 million). But remember, the team would also be clearing out a potential $17 million cap hit in 2028.

With several smaller contracts still needing to be filed, the Lions have more than $40 million in cap space. That figure includes projected holds for the team's upcoming draft class. The team is expected to continue being conservative, with several larger cap bills coming due next season. This is paired with a desire to get some in-house extensions done with Aidan Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph.

Lions bolster secondary depth

The Lions signed veteran cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and re-signed Khalil Dorsey on Thursday.

A second-round pick for Indianapolis in 2019, Ya-Sin has played for four teams over the past four years, spending the 2024 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder saw a career-low 62 defensive snaps in 13 games for the 49ers. Ya-Sin was last a full-time starter for the Raiders in 2022. He did log more than 250 special teams snaps across the past two seasons with the 49ers and Ravens.

Since 2021, he's allowed 56.5% of throws to be completed when targeted in coverage for 811 yards and seven touchdowns. Ya-Sin has broken up 19 passes during that stretch.

Dorsey, a top special teams contributor for the Lions the past two seasons, has been rehabbing his way back from a broken leg he suffered in a December game against Buffalo.