Calvin Negotiations Going Well

[lp4ever41]

Lions president Tom Lewand says long-term contract negotiations with Calvin Johnson have gotten off to a good start.
"(Johnson

 

[lions2011]

can't wait to see this monster.

 

[lp4ever41]

can't wait to see this monster.

I'm gonna guess 8 years, $140 million, $65 guaranteed

 

[lionskillpack]

Anything better than the 22 million cap number. Even a ridiculous 40 million signing bonus over 8 years and 5 million base for year 1 would save about 8 million in cap space.

 

[lp4ever41]

Anything better than the 22 million cap number. Even a ridiculous 40 million signing bonus over 8 years and 5 million base for year 1 would save about 8 million in cap space.

$40 million signing bonus over 8 years = $5 million per year.
$5 million signing bonus plus $5 million base for year one = $10 million
$22 million - $10 million = $12 million in savings.

 

[grandy]

Ugh...I really hope this ends well.

Unfortunately, down the road, I'm picturing half the starters on defense coming straight from the bargain bin.

That offense better be incredible.

 

[motown1958]

Lewand has been great working CAP numbers before and I just have a feeling that a guy like Calvin is more about the team then himself and will do what it takes to put a winning team on the field. Its going to be a large contract but with the CAP going up it can be made to work.

 

[lionskillpack]

Anything better than the 22 million cap number. Even a ridiculous 40 million signing bonus over 8 years and 5 million base for year 1 would save about 8 million in cap space.

$40 million signing bonus over 8 years = $5 million per year.
$5 million signing bonus plus $5 million base for year one = $10 million
$22 million - $10 million = $12 million in savings.

He still has his 4.5 performance bonus we have to pay

 

[lp4ever41]

$40 million signing bonus over 8 years = $5 million per year.
$5 million signing bonus plus $5 million base for year one = $10 million
$22 million - $10 million = $12 million in savings.

He still has his 4.5 performance bonus we have to pay

Not completely sure how it works but I thought that simply added to his base salary. I don't think its guaranteed.

 

[zoombabyzoom]

Ugh...I really hope this ends well.

Unfortunately, down the road, I'm picturing half the starters on defense coming straight from the bargain bin.

That offense better be incredible.

We will be fine, all we will have to do is keep resigning CJ, Staff, Suh, etc. Effectively pushing back some of that cap hit. However, when these guys are near the end of their career (mid to late 30s) we will have to cut them and take the huge cap hits as we rebuild. But, then its rebuilding time.

 

[lionskillpack]

Lions don't need bargain bin. Just need to draft well and be smart with contracts. Don't overpay too much and redo Stafford and Suh as soon as they can too like Calvin. When some players are high, get Stafford or Suh low on long term deals.

Corey Williams, Raiola next year, Burleson and KVB in year or two are the heads that are going to roll. Draft well like Mayhew has been and the Lions will be fine.

 

[lionskillpack]

He still has his 4.5 performance bonus we have to pay

Not completely sure how it works but I thought that simply added to his base salary. I don't think its guaranteed.

Lions still have to pay it. With a 40 million SB scenario(40 mil in cash to Calvin which is 21 more than he gets in this last year), they could get Calvins salary pretty low and just have the 4.5 million plus 5 plus a really low base if they need more room.

 

[tonyballs]

Ugh...I really hope this ends well.

Unfortunately, down the road, I'm picturing half the starters on defense coming straight from the bargain bin.

That offense better be incredible.

Better be? Where were you? ...lol. You saw, just like the rest of us, what this offense can accomplish when 'healthy'. AND that was with a non-existent running game. Imagine if we can get a healthy RB ALL year who is somewhat decent that defenses can't completely ignore? The possibilities are endless.

 

[grandy]

Ugh...I really hope this ends well.

Unfortunately, down the road, I'm picturing half the starters on defense coming straight from the bargain bin.

That offense better be incredible.

Better be? Where were you? ...lol. You saw, just like the rest of us, what this offense can accomplish when 'healthy'. AND that was with a non-existent running game. Imagine if we can get a healthy RB ALL year who is somewhat decent that defenses can't completely ignore? The possibilities are endless.

I also saw how much of a waste it was to have a good offense when the defense can't even force a punt for an entire game.

The worse the defense is, the less room for error on offense.

I have no doubt Mayhew can draft well...but it's going to be tough to swallow watching good players on defense go if they have too much money tied up elsewhere.

 

[tonyballs]

Better be? Where were you? ...lol. You saw, just like the rest of us, what this offense can accomplish when 'healthy'. AND that was with a non-existent running game. Imagine if we can get a healthy RB ALL year who is somewhat decent that defenses can't completely ignore? The possibilities are endless.

I also saw how much of a waste it was to have a good offense when the defense can't even force a punt for an entire game.

The worse the defense is, the less room for error on offense.

I have no doubt Mayhew can draft well...but it's going to be tough to swallow watching good players on defense go if they have too much money tied up elsewhere.

I hear ya on that. Like you said, Mayhew drafts well and all we can do is hope that guys on defense pan out and are able to be a Lion for a long time.

An offense is what we got right now. The defense is shit, so we are dependant on the shootout.

 

[wheels002]

I am glad to see that things are going well but I never really doubted that they wouldnt. Calvin has played with bad QB's even in college and now that Matt has played a full season he sees how good things can be here. A WR is really only as good as the QB throwing him the ball. This organization has come a long way in a few years. We have a ways to go but I have faith finally in our brain trust that it can be done.