Romeo Okwara listed amongst the top salary cap-related cut options around the NFL
Romeo Okwara’s time with the Detroit Lions hasn’t gone exactly as planned. The veteran defensive end missed most of the last two seasons after tearing his Achilles in Week 4 of the 2021 campaign. That makes Okwara a prime candidate to be a salary cap-related cut this offseason.
Okwara is one of 15 players who appear on the list from USA TODAY of the top candidates to be released for cap-related issues. He is the only Lions player to appear and the team’s best candidate now that DL Michael Brockers is no longer in Detroit. Okwara has an $11 million salary in 2023 but has been jumped on the depth chart by promising youngsters Aidan Hutchinson, Josh Paschal and James Houston.
The Lions cut Brockers last week, freeing up $10 million in cap room. Dumping Okwara, 27, would free up an additional $7.5 million in 2023, the final year of his contract. Okwara’s deal does have a void year in 2024 that would soak up $3.5 million in dead cap room, but that hit comes no matter what his fate for 2023 might be.
