Lions spending on WRs still among lowest in NFL in 2024, even with Amon-Ra St. Brown extension

The Detroit Lions rewarded All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown with a new contract that makes him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. The four-year, $120 million extension, which includes $77 million guaranteed, is a massive deal, even if it was quickly surpassed in the record books by Minnesota's Justin Jefferson.

Despite averaging $30 million per year, St. Brown’s new contract is structured such that just 10% of that APY counts against the Lions’ salary cap this season. Surprisingly, St. Brown only counts for $4.86 million in 2024, thanks to some creative salary cap management in how his contract is constructed.

Detroit's clever manipulation of the salary cap isn't limited to St. Brown at receiver. The entire receiving corps will only count for $21.543 million against the salary cap, representing 8.5 percent of the team's spending. Dollar spending at the receiver position ranks 26th in the NFL.

The Lions aren't spending even half of what the top team, San Francisco, is spending in cap resources at the wide receiver position in 2024. Green Bay ranks last in WR spending in 2024 with just over 11 millions of dollars.

Lions WR breakdown in terms of salary cap in 2024:

Saint-Brown – $4.862 million

Jameson Williams – $4.762 million

Kalif Raymond – $3.25 million

Donovan Peoples-Jones – $1.3 million

Fontaine Daurice – $1.06 million

Tom Kennedy – $985,000

Tre’Quan Smith – $985,000

Antoine Green – $944,190

Maurice Alexander – $915,000

Isaiah Williams – $800,000

Milestone Calhoun – $800,000

Kaden Davis – $795,000

All salary figures courtesy of Spotrac.

The story was originally published on Lions Wire