When the Los Angeles Rams made Jonah Jackson the NFL’s sixth highest-paid offensive lineman, the Detroit Lions swiftly replaced him with Kevin Zeitler, a former Ravens guard. Zeitler, a 34-year-old veteran with 181 NFL starts, can offer the Lions with a proven starter while also staying under the salary cap.
Zeitler’s deal was initially reported as a one-year, $6 million contract, and now that the contract has been officially filed, we can see that the numbers are quite close to the original report.
Here are the complete specifics of the transaction, as reported by Over The Cap.
Kevin Zeitler has a one-year contract worth $6 million with a guarantee of $5.49 million through 2024.
$1.21 million basic salary (totally guaranteed).
$4.28 million signing bonus proration (totally guaranteed)
$510,000 per game roster bonus.
$5.94 million cap hit.
Zeitler’s base pay and signing bonus are completely guaranteed, but his per-game bonuses are not. However, because Zeitler played 15 of a possible 17 games for the Ravens last season, $450,000 of his per-game roster incentive is classified as a “likely to be earned” bonus (LTBE), which means it will count against the Lions’ cap in 2024. If Zeitler plays all 17 games this season, he will receive the full $510,000 bonus, while the Lions will face a $60,000 cap adjustment in 2025 (an additional $30.00 per game). If Zeitler plays less than 15 games, the Lions will receive cap credit in 2025 based on how many less games he plays ($30,000 for each game missed after the first two).
This puts Zeitler’s contract on level with the Lions’ other starting guard, Graham Glasgow, who received a new three-year contract this summer at $6.66 million per year. Glasgow has the 24th highest contract average in the NFL, while Zeitler is tied for 25th at the position.
Leave a Reply