The Lions lost Josh Reynolds to the Broncos in free agency, but his Contract was not as expensive as originally reported.

Many Detroit Lions fans were sad to see Josh Reynolds leave the team in free agency this offseason. However, when news came out that Reynolds was signing a two-year deal worth up to $14 million with the Denver Broncos, it eased the pain. That felt like a lot for Reynolds.

Turns out, as always, you should not overreact to the initial contract details. Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald has the full details of Reynolds’ contract, and it lines up much more with the perceived value of a player like Reynolds and his level of production. Per Fitzgerald, the contract actually functions as a two-year, $9 million contract with just $4.5 million guaranteed.

The contract comes with just a $2 million signing bonus with all of his $2.245 million in 2024 salary guaranteed. That leaves just $1 million of guarantees in 2025, which means the Broncos could cut ties with Reynolds after one season with just a $4.5 million total cap hit split over two years.

So where is all of that extra money that makes the contract worth what was initially reported as a “maximum” of $14 million? That’s not explicitly explained in Over The Cap’s details of the contract, but they are typically tied into performance bonuses.

Of course, now knowing (most of) the true details of this contract, one has to wonder if the Lions made the right decision in letting Reynolds walk. It would’ve been much easier to make the decision to let him go if it would’ve cost Detroit $7 million a year. But at $4.5 million a year, that would have been a much more understandable contract for a player that the Lions publicly said they wanted back.