The offseason has begun and for most teams, the franchise tags started flying. Three kickers have received tags and yet the Lions have given no one the tag. The reason for that is because they have a few tough decisions to make.
Coming off their first winning season in 12 years, you would think that the headquarters in Allen Park would be celebrating quietly while preparing for free agency. The Lions however might not be players in free agency this year. They have many of the own free agents to re-sign. That list includes Jeff Backus, Eric Wright, Stephen Tulloch, and Cliff Avril. All four of these players were important to the team’s success last season. No brainer right?
The Lions have three former first round picks that are making at least $9 million a year (just blame Millen). Calvin Johnson, next season only, will cost the Lions $21 million. Because of all this salary being tied up in just three players, it leaves the team with roughly $2 million in cap space. Something has to be done!
In my opinion, we need to re-sign all four of those players mentioned above. The only way to do this is to rework Calvin Johnson's deal. He will be a free agent after next season and is due a new deal anyway. The difficult part is making him the highest paid receiver in the league but at the same time relieving the team of some cap space to sign other players.
This should be an interesting offseason.