Calvin Johnson will be entering the last year of his contract, next se (1 Viewer)

[hutchins929]

I think the last thing the Lions want is to enter into the season with Calvin not locked up for the long term. They should break the bank with this guy. Larry Fitzgerald got 8 years $120 Million. That's the starting point IMO. If they can lock him up for 8 years and rework/extend Stafford's deal so that he is locked up for the same length. That would be a huge deal for Detroit. I think it would send a message to FA's that the Lions are committed to doing what is necessary to win. What do you guys think?

 

[jurb26]

I agree that is sends the message that they want to win, Johnson and Stafford are easily 2 of their most talented players and are probably each in the top 5 for their respective positions I'm not sure what message it sends to prospective FA's though. It may send the message that they have no money left for them.

 

[cstu]

I agree that is sends the message that they want to win, Johnson and Stafford are easily 2 of their most talented players and are probably each in the top 5 for their respective positions I'm not sure what message it sends to prospective FA's though. It may send the message that they have no money left for them.

How is the Lions' cap situation? I'm going to assume that Calvin will also get a $15M a year contract like Fitz, I don't see what choice they have.

 

[CompetitiveEdgeFootball]

It concerns me because that's a ton of money locked up with Stafford and Calvin, while this team still needs to build a defense to contend with Green Bay.

 

[cstu]

It concerns me because that's a ton of money locked up with Stafford and Calvin, while this team still needs to build a defense to contend with Green Bay.

The Packers are going to have to give Rodgers a huge contract too, probably one to rival Manning's.

 

[Ilov80s]

Calvin doesn't have to sign a long term deal. If he forces the Lions to franchise him for the next 3 years, he will make $80 million and still hit FA at 30.

 

[Wyld Stallyns]

Calvin doesn't have to sign a long term deal. If he forces the Lions to franchise him for the next 3 years, he will make $80 million and still hit FA at 30.

Wouldn't that be risky though, if he were to sustain some horrible injury at any point during those franchised years?

 

[monk]

I disagree ... The Lions should improve and will be playing to get to the Super Bowl next year.

If Calvin gets a huge contract this year ... his incentive and numbers will suffer and the Lions will have no chance.

Win now and worry about Calvin later.

 

[massraider]

Calvin doesn't have to sign a long term deal. If he forces the Lions to franchise him for the next 3 years, he will make $80 million and still hit FA at 30.

Teams cannot franchise for three years. Two years was the max before the new CBA, it may have changed, but I know that didn't change.

 

[Tony Jabroni]

It concerns me because that's a ton of money locked up with Stafford and Calvin, while this team still needs to build a defense to contend with Green Bay.

The Packers are going to have to give Rodgers a huge contract too, probably one to rival Manning's.

It will be cap friendly. That's how we roll.

 

[Bri]

Stafford is not top five

 

[jurb26]

Stafford is not top five

Yes he is and in another year or 2 he will be top 3.

 

[Ilov80s]

Calvin doesn't have to sign a long term deal. If he forces the Lions to franchise him for the next 3 years, he will make $80 million and still hit FA at 30.

Teams cannot franchise for three years. Two years was the max before the new CBA, it may have changed, but I know that didn't change.

I apologize, I meant franchised for 2 years. The third year is 2012, the last year of his contract.

 

[matuski]

Stafford is not top five

 

[The Captain]

The Lions, more than most any other team, are going to be in serious cap trouble with Calvin, Stafford and Suh's 2nd contracts. The problem with these three is that they were all 1st or 2nd overall picks under the final 3-4 years of the old salary system. Their first contracts are all double what a #1 pick would get now and their 2nd contracts will only go up from there.

The result is that they will be hard pressed to sign their lesser players, like Avril, to second contracts, let alone go after quality free agents to fill needs in the secondary, linebacker and o-line. It will be even worse as they attempt to sign Calvin, Stafford and Suh. Stafford is a QB, so it's automatic that he gets top $$. IMO, Calvin and Suh are not the kind of players who will give a hometown discount to alleviate cap space and help the team to sign better players. I believe both will expect to get paid as the #1 at their position, regardless of what it means to the cap. And while it's their right and Calvin, in particular, deserves everything he can get, their contracts will prevent the Lions from taking the next step.

In the end, I believe the Lions will sign Calvin and Stafford and will be forced to let Suh go. I think the Lions front office is very shrewd, but they will need to get very lucky with later round draft picks and older FAs to have a shot at a conference championship or Superbowl. The old salary system will hamper the Lions for sometime.

 

[Ilov80s]

Calvin doesn't have to sign a long term deal. If he forces the Lions to franchise him for the next 3 years, he will make $80 million and still hit FA at 30.

Wouldn't that be risky though, if he were to sustain some horrible injury at any point during those franchised years?

Fitzgerald is the highest paid WR at 8 years with 50 guaranteed. If Calvin plays out the last year of his deal and is franchised for 2013, he will make 50 in 2 years. He could then get franchised for about 30 or seek a longterm deal for somewhere around 60 guaranteed.

 

[Reepicheep]

Lions are in a tough spot with Calvin, he has all the leverage. But I can certainly think of worse things to do than pay big time money to one of the most dominant WRs in the game.

 

[hutchins929]

Lions are in a tough spot with Calvin, he has all the leverage. But I can certainly think of worse things to do than pay big time money to one of the most dominant WRs in the game.

As a Lions fan I'm not hating the Idea of keeping the best WR in the league!!! One Word:UNCOVERABLE!!!

In the end, I believe the Lions will sign Calvin and Stafford and will be forced to let Suh go.

That would suck but the direction the League is going you don't need a dominant defense to win, like in the recent past. If they can get Matthew Stafford (who in my opinion is a top 5 qb, right now!) and Calvin Johnson locked up long term that would be a great thing. If they can piece together an average defense. Then they can win. Not to mention, with all the pieces they have on the defensive line they have some trade bait to pick up some other parts to their defense or get some extra draft picks.

 

[jurb26]

Lions are in a tough spot with Calvin, he has all the leverage. But I can certainly think of worse things to do than pay big time money to one of the most dominant WRs in the game.

As a Lions fan I'm not hating the Idea of keeping the best WR in the league!!! One Word:UNCOVERABLE!!!

In the end, I believe the Lions will sign Calvin and Stafford and will be forced to let Suh go.

That would suck but the direction the League is going you don't need a dominant defense to win, like in the recent past. If they can get Matthew Stafford (who in my opinion is a top 5 qb, right now!) and Calvin Johnson locked up long term that would be a great thing. If they can piece together an average defense. Then they can win. Not to mention, with all the pieces they have on the defensive line they have some trade bait to pick up some other parts to their defense or get some extra draft picks.

It would suck to have to choose between Stafford and Suh but I agree that the correct decision would be to keep Stafford. Franchise QBs are the hardest assets to find in the NFL. When you find one, who is only 23 years old mind you, you HAVE to keep them.

 

[Bri]

Lions are in a tough spot with Calvin, he has all the leverage. But I can certainly think of worse things to do than pay big time money to one of the most dominant WRs in the game.

As a Lions fan I'm not hating the Idea of keeping the best WR in the league!!! One Word:UNCOVERABLE!!!

In the end, I believe the Lions will sign Calvin and Stafford and will be forced to let Suh go.

That would suck but the direction the League is going you don't need a dominant defense to win, like in the recent past. If they can get Matthew Stafford (who in my opinion is a top 5 qb, right now!) and Calvin Johnson locked up long term that would be a great thing. If they can piece together an average defense. Then they can win. Not to mention, with all the pieces they have on the defensive line they have some trade bait to pick up some other parts to their defense or get some extra draft picks.

It would suck to have to choose between Stafford and Suh but I agree that the correct decision would be to keep Stafford. Franchise QBs are the hardest assets to find in the NFL. When you find one, who is only 23 years old mind you, you HAVE to keep them.

Three is doable. The caps increase along with the salaries and plenty of teams have had three high salaries over the years.

 

[Bri]

Which will be more-

All the money the Lions lost on failed first round WRs or Calvin's new contract?

 

[The Captain]

Lions are in a tough spot with Calvin, he has all the leverage. But I can certainly think of worse things to do than pay big time money to one of the most dominant WRs in the game.

As a Lions fan I'm not hating the Idea of keeping the best WR in the league!!! One Word:UNCOVERABLE!!!

In the end, I believe the Lions will sign Calvin and Stafford and will be forced to let Suh go.

That would suck but the direction the League is going you don't need a dominant defense to win, like in the recent past. If they can get Matthew Stafford (who in my opinion is a top 5 qb, right now!) and Calvin Johnson locked up long term that would be a great thing. If they can piece together an average defense. Then they can win. Not to mention, with all the pieces they have on the defensive line they have some trade bait to pick up some other parts to their defense or get some extra draft picks.

It would suck to have to choose between Stafford and Suh but I agree that the correct decision would be to keep Stafford. Franchise QBs are the hardest assets to find in the NFL. When you find one, who is only 23 years old mind you, you HAVE to keep them.

Three is doable. The caps increase along with the salaries and plenty of teams have had three high salaries over the years.

But have they won?Keep in mind that we're not just talking high salaries, we're talking highest paid at their position contracts (except Stafford who will still get top 3 money). Suh will want more than D tackle money. The cap will go up, yes, but I'm not sure how many teams can win with 3 contracts that make the Haynesworth deal seem small.I hope I'm wrong. Mayhew is shrewd and I believe he can lead this team to a Super Bowl but I don't think it will include all 3, unless it happens before Suh's contract is up or he asks to renegotiate.

 

[The Ref]

You pay CJ whatever it takes and you worry about everyone else second. He is the straw that stirs the drink. You woudn't want to, but you could bring in some B-level QB and he would have a great season throwing to Johnson. He is that good, he is the special player.

 

[Hendo]

Stafford is not top five

um... yes he is

 

[Grahamburn]

I believe Johnson is a good signing for Detroit fans but a bad long term signing for the Lions sustaining a winning team.

I can't really get on board with that statement.You've made some interesting and valid points, but we aren't talking about Vincent Jackson or Brandon Marshall here. When you watch the Lions play it's evident that the effect Calvin Johnson has on the defense isn't measureable in his statistics alone. Calvin is in the Jerry Rice/Randy Moss tier. Those types of players can't be replaced with a committee. When you let them leave you run the very real risk of them having record breaking seasons on other teams.

 

[Payne]

Going to be tough signing all three. Suh's behavior might make their decision a little easier. But if Stafford is as good as we think he is, I can see them letting Calvin walk and going with a group of "good" receivers hoping that Stafford makes them great. Like Brady, Rodgers and Manning do.

Brady has won plenty of games with "good" WR's. Not great. And yes I think Welker and the TE's are great. I'm talking in years past.

 

[Sinrman]

A lot of up-front money, and make the annual salary cap-friendly. Do it with Suh, Stafford, and Johnson and you'll keep them all for many years. Other teams are able to

do it, why not Detroit? You don't see teams only able to sign 1-2 top players to monster contracts, and then have to go cheap on everyone else.