DETROIT — With three days until the start of free agency, the Detroit Lions continue to monitor the status of their roster.
GM Dave Campo said the club will look at several possible roster moves before the start on July 1.
It remains to be seen if those moves will be made before the league year begins on Aug. 15, when the league’s new collective bargaining agreement takes effect.
“We’ll get a lot of information and talk, we’ll have a lot more to talk about and we’ll probably make some moves before then,” Campo told reporters.
“There’s always a lot to think about.”
The Lions will need to add players to the roster this offseason.
There are no clear answers at this time.
Campo, who was in the front office during the 2016 offseason when the Lions selected defensive end Ezekiel Ansah with the third overall pick, said the team will not make any moves that would put an undue strain on the salary cap.
“You know, we’ve talked about a few times about how we’re not going to make any changes that would impact the cap,” Camposaid.
“The cap is always a concern, but the goal is to be in a position where we can be in the position where the cap can be paid for.”
Camposubfied the team is expected to release veteran defensive end George Johnson, who is eligible for a $1.5 million salary in 2017.
The Lions also could look to free-agent quarterback Brandon Bridge, who turns 33 in August.
Bridge is one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, and he has a contract through 2019.
It would seem unlikely that the Lions would release him.
But with Bridge on the roster, they could make an exception.
Camposoprojected that the team does not believe Johnson should be released, either.
“That’s up to him,” he said.
“But, I don’t know.
It’s up for him.
We’ll see.”
He said he expects to see Bridge on his roster in training camp, but that he will not be able to practice with the team.
“I’m not going in there without him,” Campsosaid, adding that Bridge has not had any training camp practices with the Lions.
He also did not comment on the possibility that Bridge could become a free agent in the coming weeks.
It is unclear how much the Lions will spend on the position.
The team has a cap number of $123 million, which includes $62 million in dead money, according to Spotrac.
That means they have $56 million in cap space this season, but $30 million of that is available for free agency.
The club has also not spent $50 million on draft picks in the past two seasons, which could be considered a luxury in a salary cap environment.