Breaking down the financial impact of Lions releasing Cameron Sutton

The Lions released cornerback Cameron Sutton on Thursday, a day after his fugitive status in a domestic violence case in Florida came to light. There are some financial ramifications for Detroit in releasing Sutton in the second year of his three-year, $33 million contract.

Per Field Yates of ESPN, the Lions designated Sutton as a post-June 1 release. That means the team saves some cap room for 2024, spreading out the cap hit over two seasons instead of all this year. The move saves the Lions $1.5 million in cap space, though that cannot be used by the team until after June 1.

While the exact language in Sutton’s contract is unclear, it appears the Lions will be able to void the salary guarantees from Sutton. Pro Football Talk reports that the Lions voided all the guaranteed money for 2024, though that has not been confirmed by team sources at this time. Typically, the contract impact of violations doesn’t get resolved by the NFL until the legal proceedings with the player are finalized.

The Lions are responsible for amortizing the $2.18 million signing bonus for 2024 and 2025. That money was already paid to Sutton when he signed his contract in 2023.

Update: According to Spotrac, the Lions intend to void the $10.5 million salary guarantee for 2024. Once that is approved by the league, the Lions will get that cap space back.

CB Cam Sutton has officially been designated a Post June 1st release by the #Lions.

Detroit has also signified their intent to void his $10.5M salary guarantee for 2024.

This means Detroit carries his $12.6M cap into June, then take on dead hits of:2024: $2.18M 2025: $6.54M

— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 21, 2024

Spotrac now lists Detroit’s available cap room at just over $27 million.

Meanwhile, Sutton remains at large.