Matthew Stafford to the Lions at No. 1
The Lions and Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford have agreed to terms on a six-year, $78 million deal late last night, FOXSports' Jay Glazer reports. Here's more on the deal.
Despite the contract agreement, look for Lions fans to boo heartily at this pick. They're still stung by the Joey Harrington disaster (and the Andre Ware disaster before that), so they're naturally skeptical of taking another quarterback.
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Comments (3)
The $41.7 million guaranteed in this contract is the largest guaranteed amount in NFL history, even higher than what Haynesworth got. Yikes! I thought we were in a bad economy?
Detroit is in bad economy but Ford didn't need bailout money so obviously they have money to burn (and they probably did.) If I was a Detroit fan I'd boo too considering all the flop draft picks they've had over the past decade. I'd be skeptical that their scouting department has a clue what they are doing and wouldn't be satisfied with this pick until Stafford wins them 3 or 4 games in the first 6 to 8.
This is why the NFL needs a rookie salary cap. The Lions gave Stafford $41.7 million of guaranteed money and he hasn't play a game yet in the NFL. Goodell has to mandate to the NFLPA that on the next CBA, there has to be a rookie salary cap. The Lions better hope Stafford is the next Peyton Manning because if he isn't, then the Lions will have egg on their faces.
Bob, how about the NFL take a page from the NBA and do a draft lottery. This way the team with the worse record is not guaranteed the 1st overall pick in the NFL and they don't have the burden of paying the type of money that the Lions just pay Stafford.