My suggested negotiating tactic is to tell potential free agents “You can ether stay here on a reasonable contract and have a real shot at winning, or you can just take a fat check.” I say it this way because any team that is willing to pay these guys “what they’re worth” will not be able to surround them with experienced talent. Young talent? Sure, but not experienced talent.

Worth every penny! Drafted him in the 2nd round of my fantasy league and…WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

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I drafted him in the second round of my league and took 3rd placeFred Jackson going down cost me the ring/belt/title/bragging rights.

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It does make sense because I’m not talking about cars, I’m simply using cars to illustrate a principle. Many things can be substituted for the car. It’s about rarity, performance, and value.

How about this: you can take 4 one-carat diamonds and together their value is still much less than a 4-carat diamond. Ask any woman if she’d rather have a tiny ring on each finger or one brilliant giant that all her jealous friends wish they had.

But to your analogy, the problem is you didn’t account for the fact that in teh Lion’s offense, Calvin is all 4 tires and everyone else is a spare.

No, but I’d rather have 20 Toyotas than one Porsche.
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If your object in selecting a car is simply economy, great choice. However if your desire is high performance (as it generally is with football players), your warehouse full of Corollas simply isn’t gonna get the job done.

The purpose of the draft is to get talent, and when you actually draft someone so good they are irreplaceable you do not send them packing to a rival over some cash. There is no one the Lions could spend the money “saved” on who can impact the team like Calvin does.

I’d venture to say all these people clamoring for the Lions to let Calvin go are desperately hoping so that their team will have a shot at paying him that money.

I don’t believe there to be any question whether Calvin deserves to be amongst the highest paid WR’s in the NFL – If not the top.

The question is why the issue of salary cap amnesty was not discussed as part of the CBA last summer. The rookie contracts of 2010 and prior will continue to plague NFL teams for the next few years. Teams like the Lions, who consistently picked towards the top of the draft will be burdened by Suh, Stafford, and Johnson’s success. You can’t have building blocks if that’s all you can afford. Had these 3 players been drafted under the 2011 rookie structure, the Lions would be able to sign a few missing pieces and compete for a championship in 2012/2013. Rather, they will struggle to sign their own free agents and will likely field a team in the fall that has less talent than the last year.

The Lions are not alone in this situation. The Ford Family has, once again, demonstrated no foresight and proven to be the worst ownership in professional sports. I blame them for not recognizing this challenge and building a contingent of support for the teams in similar situations.
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I totally agree. I’ve been posting this even prior to the new CBA being approve. I just assumed it would be written in. There could have been a declining scale applied to each contract dependent upon how many years prior to the new CBA it was initiated. Well, at least sanity prevailed among the owners who insisted a new CBA carry a rookie cap. It just hinders teams like the Lions right now.

Completely agree. Funny how many people have said Suh has made Avril better, but no one remarks how much easier a MLB’s life is behind that DL. Here’s the bottom line, in a pass happy league you don’t let young premium edge rushers hit the FA market. That’s just dumb.
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When your on the edge of the cliff, it’s good to have Cliff on the edge.

No, but I’d rather have 20 Toyotas than one Porsche.
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So you’d rather send your money to Japan to improve their infrastructure, schools, and their health system at the expense of our own?

I see.

The question is why the issue of salary cap amnesty was not discussed as part of the CBA last summer. The rookie contracts of 2010 and prior will continue to plague NFL teams for the next few years. Teams like the Lions, who consistently picked towards the top of the draft will be burdened by Suh, Stafford, and Johnson’s success. You can’t have building blocks if that’s all you can afford. Had these 3 players been drafted under the 2011 rookie structure, the Lions would be able to sign a few missing pieces and compete for a championship in 2012/2013. Rather, they will struggle to sign their own free agents and will likely field a team in the fall that has less talent than the last year.

The Lions are not alone in this situation. The Ford Family has, once again, demonstrated no foresight and proven to be the worst ownership in professional sports. I blame them for not recognizing this challenge and building a contingent of support for the teams in similar situations.

mackie66 says:
Mar 6, 2012 11:00 AM
Im sorry but, no one player is worth 25 mil a year. Let Calvin play out his rookie contract and find another WR. You can buy a lot of WRs for 25 mil.
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Sure, but you can still only have so many on the roster at a time, and you can only throw to one of them at a time. And none of them would be nearly as good as CJ. Which means he’s worth more than all of them combined.
So you’d rather have 20 Yugos than one Porsche I guess.
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If the Porsche is in the shop for a month …. yeah.

Actually, a handful of Mustangs and Corvettes would do.

jamezz23 says:
Mar 6, 2012 10:58 AM
Don’t care, lock this man up. Even if we have to release tolloch. Even tho I’d rather release avril that would be even better.

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You realize Tulloch isn’t even under contract right? I also don’t know why most Lions fans are hating on Avril. He was our best defensive lineman last year. He has been progressing his entire career. He is 25 and in the prime of his career! Dont try and tell me that LoJack or Young can come in and put up the same production as him. People are hating on Avril and saying get rid of him because he wants to much. Really? He isn’t looking to get paid as a top tier guy, he is looking to be paid at that next level, where he should be. He will get a contract similar to Charles Johnson last year. People will complain about Avrils contract but then turn a blind eye to Vanden Bosh. Avril is in the prime of his career, more productive then KVB(they played almost identicle amount of snaps last season), and KVB is one of the highest paid guys on the team and his production is declining.

I dont understand what most Lions fans are thinking. You dont let you best players walk when they are in the prime of their careers……
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Completely agree. Funny how many people have said Suh has made Avril better, but no one remarks how much easier a MLB’s life is behind that DL. Here’s the bottom line, in a pass happy league you don’t let young premium edge rushers hit the FA market. That’s just dumb.

Make that like… 22 other NFL teams. I’m sorry but, 25 million is a little too much for one single player. A lot of teams may desire a player like Johnson but not with the pricetag that comes along with him. There are plenty of other receivers in the NFL that are damn near Johnson’s numbers for last year that are playing for much less. Like Wes Welker, Roddy White, Percy Harvin or Brandon Marshall. The only stat Johnson towers at is TD’s and that is because no one else on the team scores them.
25 million/yr is too much for any position.

I am not saying he going to do a hugely below market deal or anything stupid (I would actually be angry if the team lowballed him) and he will get top dollar, but it will not be the cap busting number it is now. CJ’s not dumb or greedy and wants to be great in this league, he knows it takes the ability for the team to pay others.

if johnson and his agent were smart, they would milk this all the way. even if johnson CJ tore his ACL tomorrow, his next contract wouldnt be affected much because another team will want him enough to pay him market value, because hes that good.

No, but I’d rather have 20 Toyotas than one Porsche.

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You realize Tulloch isn’t even under contract right? I also don’t know why most Lions fans are hating on Avril. He was our best defensive lineman last year. He has been progressing his entire career. He is 25 and in the prime of his career! Dont try and tell me that LoJack or Young can come in and put up the same production as him. People are hating on Avril and saying get rid of him because he wants to much. Really? He isn’t looking to get paid as a top tier guy, he is looking to be paid at that next level, where he should be. He will get a contract similar to Charles Johnson last year. People will complain about Avrils contract but then turn a blind eye to Vanden Bosh. Avril is in the prime of his career, more productive then KVB(they played almost identicle amount of snaps last season), and KVB is one of the highest paid guys on the team and his production is declining.

I dont understand what most Lions fans are thinking. You dont let you best players walk when they are in the prime of their careers……

Go Lions! Go Badgers!

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The Bears have paid more than 25 million dollars on 100 different WRs, and none of them combine have produced as well as Calvin Johnson did last year. If the Lions can’t afford him… the Bears need to step up and sign him.

Come to Chicago, Cutler throws a better ball than Stafford!!!!!!!!!

“Six-year contract worth up to $64 million, and Johnson has actually played well and earned many of the incentives that push up the total value of the deal”

Is this saying that the incentives that were reached pushes the deal HIGHER than the 6yr-$64M, or is it saying that the incentives that were reached turns the “phony” money at the max $64M deal into REAL money?

I’m just trying to make sure I understand this.