Following Charles Harris' lead, Romeo Okwara takes massive pay cut to stay with Lions

Both Romeo Okwara and Charles Harris were potential cap casualties this offseason, but the two Detroit Lions edge rushers have agreed to significant pay cuts to stay with the team in 2023.

News of Harris' negotiated deal came out last week. Entering the final year of the contract, he was scheduled to have an $8 million cap hit. But after a down year, where he missed 11 games because of a recurring groin injury, Harris agreed to reduce his base salary from $6 million to $3 million.

The team also added up to $250,000 in per-game roster bonuses, which when factored in, reduced his 2023 cap hit to $5.16 million. That nearly $3 million in savings is comparable to the $4 million the team would have saved had they simply cut Harris.

As for Okwara, he took an even sharper pay decrease. He had been set to carry a cap hit of $14.5 million with an $11 million base salary, but agreed to reduce that base all the way down to $2 million (plus an additional $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses) after missing most of the past two seasons because of a torn Achilles.

The Lions had the opportunity to trim $7.5 million in cap space by parting with Okwara, but they save even more with the contract restructuring. His cap hit for 2023 will now be $5.65 million.

Combined, the contract adjustments save the Lions $11.7 million in cap space for the upcoming season. Both Harris and Okwara are scheduled to be free agents after this season.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers