The financial implications of Frank Ragnow's retirement, how much cap space the Lions save in 2025 and what they have to eat

Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow shocked everyone on Monday when he retired at the age of 29. This is a huge blow for the Lions for sure, but the big question now, aside from what happens with the Lions' offensive line, is how much money does this save Detroit? 

Since this retirement is happening after June 1st, it's considered a post-June 1st cut. That means the Lions will save $9.5 million in cap space in 2025. That's going to help if they look to make a trade for a possible replacement or sign someone in free agency. 

As far as eating any dead money, this came at a pretty good time. The Lions will eat $3.6 million in dead money next season because that will be the remaining amount from his $18 million option bonus he received in 2022. 

So it's not a massive amount that the Lions save or eat, but every little bit helps for a team that will soon have to extend Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch, Jack Campbell, and Alex Anzalone. Most of those guys could be getting deals that are near the top of the market for each of their positions.