Club president Tom Lewand recently described the Lions’ negotiations with unsigned franchise player Cliff Avril as largely one sided. Lewand wants Avril to sign his one-year, $10.6 million franchise tender, and said “the ball is in his court.”
Avril sees things much differently. He wants an actual long-term deal, with a big signing bonus and big base salaries making him a rich man for a long time. He doesn’t want to sign the tender, which means he’s putting the ball back in the Lions’ court.
“It’s up to Tom,” Avril responded to Lewand’s comments, per Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “It’s up to Tom, and see where we can go with that.”
Avril indicated that he’s not overly worried about the state of negotiations, or his absence from OTAs.
“Things will work themselves out,” said an optimistic Avril. “I don’t stress out about it. It’s a business and you can’t get mad about it. ... Hopefully, I’m there for the start of camp.”