As they have with both Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders, the Detroit Lions forced retired Frank Ragnow to return a portion of his remaining signing bonus.
Talking with the Detroit Free Press recently, Lions team president Rod Wood revealed that the team recouped a portion of the remaining $3 million in signing bonus prorations left in Ragnow’s contract after the veteran center retired prior to the 2025 season.
A quick recap of what that means. Ragnow signed a contract extension in 2021 that included
a $6 million signing bonus. That signing bonus is paid immediately to the player, but it only counts against the cap an even amount over the length of the contract. In Ragnow’s case, the $6 million hit $1.5 million against the cap in each year from 2023-26. Once he retired in 2025, there were still two prorations left to hit the cap ($3 million in total), and per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the team can recoup all of those remaining hits.
Some teams opt to collect the money that is technically “theirs.” The 49ers forced Chris Borland to repay his signing bonus after the third-round pick retired just one season into the NFL. The Colts famously did not ask Andrew Luck to repay any of his $16.8 million in bonuses following his sudden retirement. It varies team by team and player to player. Some utilize the rule to get every penny they’re legally obliged to recoup. Others decide a player has “earned” the money as an act of loyalty.
But the Lions have been pretty consistent with their policy. After arbitration, Sanders was forced to repay over $7 million of his signing bonus. The Lions also forced Johnson to repay $1.6 million of the $3.2 million Detroit could have recouped. Both Sanders and Johnson were at odds with the franchise for several years after their retirement at least partially because of the team’s decision to recoup that money.
Wood didn’t give specifics on how much they opted to recoup from Ragnow, but he defended the decision, stating team precedent and insisting that money is the team’s, not the player’s.
“Our precedent goes all the way back to Barry Sanders,” Wood said. “And if Barry Sanders paid back money. … And I think the reality is, they’re not paying back their money, they’re returning our money. Cause they were paid in advance for services that they hadn’t completed.”
It’s unclear if this decision will alienate Ragnow as it did with Sanders and Johnson. Though it’s certainly worth noting that Ragnow did attempt to come out of retirement late last season to rejoin the team before a physical revealed an injury that ended his season. Since his retirement, Ragnow has stayed completely out of the public eye.
