Stoney's Blog: Mega Bucks For Megatron
Remember when some people worried that Calvin Johnson would be on the first plane out-of-town once his first contract expired? Remember the days when some people said the Lions would not do whatever it took to keep their star players? Remember the days when Lion players only cared about themselves and not the team? I remember those days and today proves that those days are history. The Lions and Calvin Johnson will be partners for a long time after agreeing to a 7 year extension worth an estimated $132 million dollars. The deal, which includes a guarantee of $60 million dollars means that Johnson will be a Lion until 2019 and makes him the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL and the richest receiver in NFL history.
The move is a great one for the Lions because it frees up approximately another $ 9 million dollars in cap space, which gives them the chance to sign some help for the secondary and/or linebacker corps. This means they now have the finances to bring back Steven Tulloch if they wish. You have to applaud both sides for getting this deal done. It takes creativity from Tom Lewand and the front office to make all the pieces fit, but it takes two to tango. Credit must be given to Johnson, Ndamakong Suh, Matthew Stafford and Nate Burleson for restructuring their deals to give the Lions flexibility to keep their best players and still have some money to better the team. Players and management making sacrifices together is what helps build winning organizations and the Lions are on their way to doing that.
