The Lions can pay Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta. Here’s the math that proves it.
Detroit made Jahmyr Gibbs the highest-paid running back in NFL history, and the immediate reaction from Lions fans was not about the money. It was about what comes next.
Brian Branch needs to get paid. Sam LaPorta needs to get paid. Both are expected to reset the market at their positions. And when you look at what Brad Holmes has already committed to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Jared Goff, Jack Campbell, and Aidan Hutchinson, the natural question is whether there’s enough room left to finish the job.
The answer is yes. Easily. Let me show you the math.
The Gibbs deal was built for this
First thing you need to understand is that Gibbs’ contract is not what it looks like on the surface.
The Lions did what they always do with extensions. Low cap hits up front, high dead money up front, most of the guaranteed money loaded into the early years. They added one void year to help stash extra cash, and the fact that it’s only one void year is remarkable. For comparison, Bijan Robinson’s deal has five void years. Detroit uses void years strategically, not recklessly.
In 2026 and 2027, Gibbs is still under his original rookie deal and fifth-year option. Because the Lions extended him, they were able to convert some of that fifth-year option money into a signing bonus, bringing the 2027 cap hit down from the original $15 million projection. The extension officially kicks in at 2028 with a $15 million cap hit. The big numbers come in 2029 and 2030, but between those two years, Detroit has an escape hatch where they could get out after 2029 for roughly $3 million in dead money.
Here’s the thing. This contract is really built for 2029. Gibbs will be 27 years old. If he’s still balling out, you extend him again, smooth out those 2029 and 2030 cap hits, and buy more time. It puts the Lions in a great position.
The math works for Branch and LaPorta
So I ran an experiment. I took the 2026, 2027, and 2028 Lions cap tables, entered in hypothetical deals for Branch and LaPorta as the highest-paid players at their respective positions, and maneuvered the numbers around.
The result? It works.
For 2027, the projected NFL salary cap is around $323 million. The existing Lions roster accounts for roughly $260 million. Add in Gibbs’ $6.27 million cap hit, Branch at around $10 million, and LaPorta at around $8.55 million, and you’re left with $37.57 million to spend.
That’s with both guys getting paid.
Right off the bat, if you structure Branch and LaPorta the same way, low cap hits, high dead money, a void year or two, you can do all three extensions at the same time.
Now, 2028 might look scary at first glance. The remaining cap space drops to about $15.33 million, which doesn’t leave much room for free agency. I get it. That looks concerning.
But here’s a simple fix. A restructure of Goff’s contract that year opens up approximately $30 million. Suddenly the Lions have around $45.7 million remaining to play with. You could even do that Goff restructure in 2027 instead and save about $30 million there, too. There are different levers to pull.
This is Holmes and Mike Disner at their best
When you get to 2029 and 2030, it’s harder to predict because we don’t know everybody who’s going to be on the team. But every extension the Lions have done, whether it’s Gibbs, Campbell, Goff, Hutchinson, or St. Brown, has been built the same way.
By year three or four of these deals, Detroit has options. Extend again. Get out. Restructure. This is really good work from Holmes and cap strategist Mike Disner.
The Lions have found a way to kick the can down the road while kicking it to a position where they can feel comfortable managing other contracts, spending in free agency, signing draft picks, and doing everything they need to do.
The one caveat is that stacking void years does create dead money risk. But the way Detroit manages it, I don’t see it becoming an issue. The Eagles? That might be different. Philadelphia has something like $474 million tied up in void-year obligations right now. That’s a lot. The Lions aren’t anywhere near that territory.
So if your concern has been that Detroit can’t keep both Branch and LaPorta, stop worrying. If the Lions continue structuring deals the way they’ve been structuring them, they should absolutely be able to get it all done, plus do other things.
Brad Holmes has put over a billion dollars into keeping this core together. A billion dollars. Not a whole lot of other teams are doing that. And yeah, I don’t know why people keep thinking he’s cheap.
So can the Lions pay Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta after making Jahmyr Gibbs the highest-paid running back in NFL history? Or is this another classic Detroit move where we celebrate too early and regret it later? Drop your take below.
Holmes and Disner have this thing figured out man. The way they structured Gibbs deal to set us up for Branch and LaPorta is exactly the kind of long term thinking this franchise finally needed. I’m not even worried about cap space anymore.
Look I want to believe this works out, and the math on paper looks solid. But I’ve seen cap space disappear before and suddenly we’re scrambling. Goff restructures always feel like we’re just pushing problems around. Prove to me this actually plays out clean.
This is what having real leadership looks like. You can feel the difference between how Holmes structures these deals and the chaos we dealt with for so many years. A billion dollars committed to keeping the core together? That’s respect for your players and vision for winning.
Branch and LaPorta both getting paid feels real now. The void year strategy is genius and I love that they’re not going crazy with it like some other teams. Holmes is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.