Lions spending at WR still near the bottom of the NFL in 2024 even with Amon-Ra St. Brown's extension

The Detroit Lions rewarded All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown with a new contract that made him the highest-paid wideout in the NFL. The four-year, $120 million extension that included $77 million guaranteed is a massive deal, albeit one that was quickly surpassed by Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson in the record books.

Despite the $30 million per year average, St. Brown’s new contract is structured such that barely 10 percent of that APY counts against the Lions’ salary cap this season. Amazingly, St. Brown only counts as a cap hit of $4.86 million in 2024, thanks to some creative cap management in the way his deal is constructed.

Detroit’s savvy cap manipulation permeates beyond St. Brown at wide receiver. The entire WR corps will count just $21.543 million against the salary cap, which represents 8.5 percent of the team’s spending. The dollar figure expenditure at wide receiver ranks 26th in the NFL.

The Lions aren’t even spending half of what the top team, San Francisco, is devoting in cap resources to the wide receiver position in 2024. Green Bay ranks last in WR spending in 2024 at just over $11 million.

The Lions WR breakdown in 2024 cap hits:

St. Brown – $4.862 million

Jameson Williams – $4.762 million

Kalif Raymond – $3.25 million

Donovan Peoples-Jones – $1.3 million

Daurice Fountain – $1.06 million

Tom Kennedy – $985,000

Tre’Quan Smith – $985,000

Antoine Green – $944,190

Maurice Alexander – $915,000

Isaiah Williams – $800,000

Jalon Calhoun – $800,000

Kaden Davis – $795,000

All salary figures courtesy of Spotrac.