After a breakout season in 2020, Romeo Okwara signed a $37 million deal with the Lions through 2023.
With three sacks in nine games since, there's a chance his time in Detroit is over.
Okwara, named on USA Today's list of veteran cut candidates around the NFL, is a potential cap casualty with the new league year and the start of free agency looming March 15.
The Lions already cleared $10 million in cap space by cutting fellow defensive lineman Michael Brockers last week, and could save another $7.5 million by releasing Okwara.
Slated to carry a cap hit of $14.5 million in 2023 -- currently the fourth-highest on the Lions -- Okwara would also carry a dead cap charge of $7 million.
The NFL's salary cap is set to increase by more than $16 million to about $225 million next season, and the Lions aren't facing any kind of crunch. So cutting Okwara might be more trouble than it's worth.
While his recovery from the torn Achilles he suffered in Week 4 of 2021 took longer than expected, he showed shades of his former self with two sacks against the Jets in a big win for Detroit late last season. And you can never have too many pass rushers.
Still, Okwara's durability is probably still a concern for the Lions and, as USA Today notes, the club's "defensive youth movement likely will continue this offseason -- perhaps with a defensive end chosen with one of its four picks among the top 55 selections" in the draft.
At the very least, something to watch over the next two weeks.
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