Lions president Rod Wood isn’t balking at the idea of making Matthew Stafford the league’s highest-paid player, as ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein writes.
“I’m comfortable in getting a deal done with him, and we’ll see where that ends up,” Wood said. “It’s going to be whatever it takes, I think, to make it happen from both sides, and whether he becomes the highest-paid or not, it’ll be a short-lived designation because, as [general manager] Bob [Quinn] said, and I think it’s true, if you’re in the top whatever of quarterbacks, when your time comes up, your time comes up and then somebody else’s time comes up, and they become the highest-[paid player]. It’s a premium position, and you need to have a very, very good player at that position to be credible and be competitive, and I think we do have that, and we’re working on getting a deal done.”
Wood’s comments come on the heels of Quinn expressing confidence in an extension getting done before the quarterback hits free agency next year. While it’s true that the mantle of “highest-paid player” never lasts long, it’s somewhat surprising for Wood to show his hand in this fashion in the midst of major negotiations.
Here’s more from Detroit:
- In his early Lions roster projection, Rothstein writes that sixth-round quarterback Brad Kaaya is not likely to make the 53-man roster. He anticipates Stafford and Jake Rudock being the only two QBs making the cut, leaving the Lions to hope that they can sneak Kaaya through waivers and stash him on the practice squad. Interestingly, Rothstein also does not have Matt Asiata making the final cut. He sees the Lions carrying only four RBs in Ameer Abdullah, Theo Riddick, Zach Zenner, and Dwayne Washington.
- The loss of Taylor Decker is not going to be an easy one to overcome for the Lions, even after the team added former No. 2 pick Greg Robinson and Cyrus Kouandjio, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press opines (video link). The left tackle’s shoulder injury will sideline him for 4-6 months, and that means that he’s likely to miss the first half of the 2017 season.
- On Tuesday, defensive tackle Khyri Thornton was hit with a six-game suspension.
This just shows that no matter who is running the Lions franchise,they are clueless.Rod Wood says we are going to do whatever it takes to get Stafford signed….hhmmm….why?What am I missing,that this man should be the highest paid player in the NFL.Is it his 0-8 record in winning division titles,or would it be his abysmal record,on the road,against opponents with a .500 record,or better.Maybe it’s his 0-3 record in the playoffs.Could it be his career passing percentage of 54%.
I could see Tom Brady,Aaron Rodgers,Ben Rothlisberger,Drew Bree’s,and even Eli Manning getting that kind of money.They all have one thing in common-they win!!!Stafford has NEVER won a dam thing,yet the Lions are going to pay him a king’s ransom.It makes sense…I guess…in some twisted way.We lose Suh-and get nothing,we lose Megatron-and get nothing,and now we are going to pay a man,more money than anyone else in the NFL,who has won absolutely NOTHING.This is the worst franchise in ALL of professional sports.
His career passing % is 61.5, not 54%. Also not a single NFL quarterback has a winning record on the road against winning teams, not even Tom Brady who is 20-23 with the Patriots juggernaut behind him. Aaron Rodgers is 8-20, so it seems like your expectations are unrealistic.
2nd worst. Cleveland Browns.