5 Detroit Lions who should outperform their contracts in 2018

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Darius Slay talks improvement at Lions minicamp Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay discusses his improvement during Day 2 of Lions minicamp on June 6, 2018, in Allen Park.

Since every NFL team has a defined amount of cap space for a season ($177.2 million this year), it’s teams that make the best use of that space that often have the most success on the field.

The Detroit Lions don’t have any bad contracts on their books, but they do have some good values. Here are their five biggest bargains for the 2018 season, based on salary cap number and projected performance.

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1. OG Graham Glasgow

2018 cap number: $809,855

Glasgow was the only Lion to play every offensive snap last season, and yet he has just the 33rd-biggest cap figure (and sixth-biggest among offensive linemen) on the team. A third-round pick out of Michigan in 2016, Glasgow is not eligible for a pay raise until next season, according to the collective bargaining agreement. He’s expected to start at center this fall, though, where the top-paid players like Ryan Jensen ($12 million), Alex Mack ($11.05 million) and Maurkice Pouncey ($10.551 million) all have eight-figure cap numbers according to OverTheCap.com.

2. CB Darius Slay

2018 cap number: $6,126,269

Slay is the highest-paid player on the list as he enters Year 2 of the contract extension he signed at the start of the 2016 season, but given the money he’s due this fall he still looks like one of the most underpaid cornerbacks in the NFL. Slay opted to forgo free agency (or the franchise tag, more likely) for a four-year, $50.2 million deal that included a $14.5 million signing bonus in August of 2016. That’s life-changing money no matter how you cut it, but just going on 2018 figures (and his $2.726 million base salary), Slay the Pro Bowler is underpaid. According to OTC, 13 cornerbacks have cap figures of at least $10 million this fall and players like Darqueze Dennard, Buster Skrine and Prince Amukamara will all make more than Slay on a cash basis.

3. LT Taylor Decker

2018 cap number: $2,990,994

When the NFL Players Association agreed to a new CBA in 2011, they gave in to a rookie wage scale that dramatically drove down the cost of young players. We don’t quite know how good Decker can be, as he missed half of last season (and struggled most of the other half) with a shoulder injury. But we know the Lions think the world of Decker, and we know dependable, low-cost replacements aren’t easy to find. Case in point: Riley Reiff, whose spot Decker took on the Lions’ offensive line, has a cap figure more than 3.5 times higher than Decker’s this fall. In fact, using data from OTC, Decker has the 24th-highest cap number among projected starting left tackles this season. The average cap value of the 23 players in front of him (not included Giants backup Ereck Flowers): $10.338 million.

4. DE Anthony Zettel

2018 cap number: $660,931

Like Glasgow, Zettel is a bargain after far outperforming his draft slot. A sixth-round pick out of Penn State in 2016, Zettel finished second on the Lions with 6.5 sacks last year. None of those came after Thanksgiving, and his role is evolving this year in a new defense that will play just three linemen much of the time. But Zettel is still a steal while playing for the third-year league minimum.

5. WR Kenny Golladay

2018 cap number: $765,706

You could make a case here for Kerryon Johnson (though NFL teams are increasingly finding starting running backs in the draft and paying them little; Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt both have lower cap numbers than Johnson this year), Quandre Diggs (even after hitting his proven performance escalator, he’ll make less than a starting slot cornerback/No. 2 safety would in free agency, as the contracts of Nevin Lawson, Tavon Wilson and DeShawn Shead showed this offseason) and one or two other players. I went with Golladay because I think he’s headed for a big year as the Lions’ No. 3 receiver. If Golladay catches 50 or 60 passes, he’ll be a huge bargain at a $586,000 base salary. In fact, his entire rookie contract of $3.2 million is less than what average No. 3 receivers like Seth Roberts (three year, $12 million) and Terrelle Pryor (one year, $4.5 million) got on new deals in the last 10 months.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!