The Detroit Lions came into this offseason over the 2014 salary cap. It was expected that moves would be made to free up space for new additions. The first cap casualty ended up being Nate Burleson.
Burleson signed a five year $25 million contract back in 2010. Most recently, he has restructured his contract a few times to give the Lions more cap room. However, the $5.5 million hit towards the 2014 cap ending up being too much to handle.
Injures have defined the last two season. He missed a total of 17 games after breaking his arm in the infamous pizza incident as well as breaking his leg. Over his career he caught 194 balls for 2,083 yards and 12 touchdowns. Burleson will most likely be missed in the locker room as a leader than in the box score. A class act to the end, Burleson expressed his love and passion for the city of Detroit after the announcement.
The second cap casualty ended up being Louis Delmas. Drafted in 2009, Delmas has been one of the most consistent parts of the Lions secondary when he played. Over the last three season, he has missed 11 games. He was able to play in all 16 games last season but was never able to complete a full week of practice due to his knee problems.
With a cap hit of 6 million dollars, he ended up being too high of a risk. The Lions will likely be in the market for a safety in the off season. In addition to Glover Quin and Don Carey, the Lions have Dejon Gomes under contract and have claimed Isa Abdul-Quddus from waivers.
The Detroit Lions revamped coaching staff will have a familiar face working in a new position. Former defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham will be a senior coaching assistant for the 2014 season. He will mainly deal with statistics and player evaluations in order to game plan for teams on both sides of the ball.
This will be Cunningham’s 33rd season in the NFL. He expressed that he has always wanted a job like this late in his coaching career. He outlined his expectations pretty clearly. “I came here to do the job and it was going to be my last job one way or another. I want to go out as a winner. It’s really important to me.”
These are just the opening moves for a Lions team that will likely make many over the course of the offseason. With their cap restrictions, they will have to be very strategic with their roster moves going forward.
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