Vanden Bosch restructured his 2012 salary to generate the salary cap space needed to get the Lions under the NFL's $120.6 million salary ceiling, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Changes in Detroit's salary cap situation during training camp – including the acquisitions of veterans Kevin Barnes and Drayton Florence – pushed Detroit roughly $700,000 over the salary cap as of Monday morning. Teams were required to be in compliance with the salary cap by the end of Wednesday.
Vanden Bosch was due to make $5 million in salary this season. The restructured terms of the defensive end's contract will reduce that salary to the veteran minimum of $925,000 and convert the remaining money into a signing bonus that can be paid this season, but spread out over the life of Vanden Bosch's contract for cap purposes.
Vanden Bosch also reportedly had two voidable years added to his contract – which is set to expire following the 2013 season – that will allow the team to spread that signing bonus over three seasons instead of one.
Vanden Bosch became the fourth Lions' player to restructure his contract during the 2012 calendar year. Receiver Nate Burleson, quarterback Matthew Stafford and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh all restructured their contracts to address salary cap discrepancies before the 2012 league year began.
Follow Lions reporter John Kreger on Twitter at @CBSSportsNFLDET and @JohnKreger
