Lions Bringing In Ex-49ers' Kicker Akers For Visit Next Week
DETROIT, Mich. (CBS Sports) -- The Detroit Lions want Jason Hanson back for a 22nd season, but the sides aren't aren't close to an agreement.
In what could be a negotiating tactic, the team is bringing in free-agent kicker David Akers for a visit next week. The Detroit Free Press newspaper reported the visit after noting the Lions made Hanson a "minimum-salary offer."
The 49ers cut Akers after a season in which he hit 29 of 42 field goals. He was set to earn $3 million this season, making it an easy decision.
Hanson, who turns 43 in June, nailed 32 of 36 fields goal last year en route to a career-high 134 points. He has said he'll only play for the Lions.
But the league's oldest player might not get a storybook ending to his record-setting career.
"It's not a system that provides for a lot of allowance for sentimentality," team president Tom Lewand said at the owners' meetings, according to the paper. "We have the utmost respect for Jason and want to have him back, but it's a situation where everything has to fit. The salary cap is a real restraint for all 32 clubs, and we have to operate within that and within our plans."
Hanson, whose 88.9 percent accuracy rate last season was his second-highest since 2003, has made an NFL-record 51 field goals of 50-plus yards.
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