Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson's retirement pushes the Detroit Lions' cap space over $40 million.

(AP Photo)

Calvin Johnson has retired, shifting the landscape of the Detroit Lions salary cap entering free agency.

When the NFL announced the 2016 cap had been set at $155.27 million late last month, we noted the Lions had more than $33 million in space to work with as free agency neared.

In the days since, there have been some significant changes, none bigger than Johnson's retirement -- which frees up an additional $11.1 million. Detroit also tendered six exclusive rights free agents, re-signed defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker and received $1.18 million in extra space thanks to adjustments based on the 2015 cap.

Considering all those new variables, the Lions are scheduled to enter the new league year, staring March 9, with just over $41 million in space. Here's the breakdown.

-- Detroit has 50 players under contract with cap hits totaling at least $100.2 million.

-- It remains important to note, only the top 51 players count against the cap during the offseason. From that point, any time the Lions add another player, a lower-valued contract will no longer be part of the cap calculation. Right now, the team has multiple players set to earn $450,000, so if the team signs a player in free agency for $1 million, it will only count $550,000 against the cap because one of those $450,000 contracts will drop off the tabulation.

-- The Lions have $15.95 million in dead money from players who have been released, traded or retired. Johnson makes up more than 80 percent of that figure. That cap space is gone, except...

-- Johnson did have $3.2 million of his signing bonus money remaining, which the Lions could pursue reclaiming. In a statement released by the team, it says, "The Lions also announced, with respect to Johnson's contract, that those 'matters were settled to the satisfaction of the parties.'" We'll continue to count that $3.2 million as dead money until we hear the Lions have recouped the funds.

-- As noted, the Lions received an extra $1.18 million in cap space due to adjustments from last year's spending. The team also carried over $862,191 in unused space from last season.

-- The final calculation of space starts with the cap, $155.27 million, plus the adjusted space ($1.18 million) and carryover (862,191), minus the dead money ($15.95 million) and 50 player salaries ($100.22 million). That gives the team approximately $41.1 million in space.

-- The Lions will need between $4-5 million of that space to initially sign the team's draft class in May.