The Lions have waived WR Titus Young, a 2011 2nd round draft pick, after a tumultuous 2012 which saw him sent home from the team. Young has already earned $2.77 million from the Lions for his two years of play in which he caught 81 passes for 990 yards in 26 games. Young will carry a dead cap charge of $908,662 in 2013 which will actually free up $335,335 in salary cap space.
Though Young’s troubles are well documented ranging from punching teammates and intentionally making mistakes on the field, he is a talent and most players like that will get a second chance. With all the guarantees on his current contract paid out, a team would only be on the hook for $789,666 in cap dollars to ensure they get Young, which likely means they would forced to pay him some offseason bonus money before getting a look at him. Most likely a team will sign him at the minimum $555,000 on a 1 year contract.
Jason is the founder of OTC and has been studying NFL contracts and the salary cap for over 15 years. Jason has co-authored two books about the NFL, Crunching Numbers and the Drafting Stage, which are widely circulated in the industry and hosts the OTC Podcast. Jason’s work has been featured in various publications including the Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, NFL Network and more. OTC is widely considered the leading authority on contract matters in the NFL.