When the Los Angeles Rams made Jonah Jackson the NFL’s sixth highest-paid offensive lineman, the Detroit Lions swiftly replaced him with Kevin Zeitler, a former Ravens guard. Zeitler, a 34-year-old veteran with 181 NFL starts, can offer the Lions with a proven starter while also staying under the salary cap.
Zeitler’s deal was originally reported as a one-year, $6 million contract, and now that the contract has been officially filed, we can see the numbers are pretty close to the initial report.
Kevin Zeitler, 1 year $6 million with $5.49 million in guarantees
2024:
- $1.21M base salary (fully guaranteed)
- $4.28M signing bonus proration (fully guaranteed)
- $510,000 per-game roster bonus
- $5.94M cap hit
Zeitler’s base salary and signing bonus are fully guaranteed but his per-game bonuses are not. However, because Zeitler played 15 of a possible 17 games last season for the Ravens, $450,000 of his per-game roster bonus is considered a “likely to be earned” bonus (LTBE), meaning that amount counts against the Lions cap in 2024. If Zeitler plays in all 17 games this season, he will get the full $510,000 bonus, and the Lions will incur a $60,000 cap adjustment in 2025 (an extra $30,00 per game). If Zeitler plays less than 15 games, the Lions would get cap credit in 2025, depending on how many fewer games he played ($30,000 for each game missed beyond the first two).
This puts Zeitler’s contract on level with the Lions’ other starting guard, Graham Glasgow, who received a new three-year contract this summer at $6.66 million per year. Glasgow’s contract average ranks 24th highest in the NFL, and Zeitler is tied for 25th at the position.
