Mike Disner

Chief Operating Officer at Detroit Lions

Mike Disner enters his 14th season in the National Football League and his second in Detroit. He joined the Lions in 2019 with an extensive background in player contract negotiations and NFL salary cap regulations both at the club and League level.

In his role as vice president of football administration, Disner works closely with Lions Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Bob Quinn in matters pertaining to the club's salary cap management, player contract negotiations, and compliance with the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. Disner also oversees the club's analytics efforts and financial strategic planning as it relates to player acquisition and roster construction.

Prior to joining Detroit, Disner most recently spent six seasons (2013-18) with the Arizona Cardinals as the club's director of football administration. During his time in Arizona, Disner served as the club's lead contract negotiator and worked closely with the Cardinals' general manager in overseeing the strategic planning and management of the team's salary cap. Disner's role also included serving as the Cardinals' liaison to the NFL Management Council and overseeing the development of technical and analytical initiatives for both the player personnel department and coaching staff.

While in Arizona, Disner worked on key contract extensions with marquee players such as Carson Palmer, Patrick Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, Chandler Jones and Tyrann Mathieu. Disner contributed to the rise of the Cardinals under Head Coach Bruce Arians, where the organization won at least 10 games three straight years after the franchise had accomplished the feat just once in the past 35 years.

During the 2014 offseason, Disner was selected to Forbes "30 Under 30" list, which honors 30 athletes or executives who are 30 years or younger and making a mark in the sports industry.

Prior to Arizona, Disner spent four years working at the National Football League's Management Council, serving as labor operations manager (2012) and labor operations coordinator (2009-11). In these roles, his responsibilities included reviewing and analyzing player contracts to ensure compliance with the CBA and salary cap, managing the salary cap reconciliation process, and developing analytic tools to assist clubs in decision-making processes. In his time with the League's Management Council, Disner was instrumental in negotiations that helped cultivate the Rookie Compensation Pool in the League's 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Disner began his NFL career with the New England Patriots in 2007 as a scouting assistant after working as an intern for the Patriots for two summers (2005 and 2006). He was part of New England's personnel staff that helped the team capture the AFC title and an appearance in Super Bowl XLII.

A West Bloomfield, Mich. native, Disner played baseball at Williams College (Mass.) where he earned a degree in Economics. He and his wife, Gail, have two sons, Teddy and Archie.

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Timeline

  • Chief Operating Officer

    June, 2022 - present

  • VP, Football Administration

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