Cliff Avril - Sign him or let him walk?
 

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/lio...7-afafc7f43189

He won't be coming cheap. I'm at the point now where I'd like to see the Lions franchise him with the intent to trade him...hoping we could get at least a second or a good, young CB in return.

Thoughts?

I'm fine with drafting linebackers if our cap situation gets too tight. However, we need quality pass rushers. Avril needs to stay unless he holds out for a Charles Johnson type of mega deal. Nobody is worth that.

Right now I'm the GM of the Lions for the Forum FA mock It is nearly impossible to address Cliff without ignoring all of our needs. I imagine that this means KVB is going to have to be cut and Calvin is going to have to get that extension early I'd also like to see Stafford get an extension with a back loaded contract as well.

I also don't know Suh's actual contract details. I see it listed differently in 2 of my usual places, but I'm guessing this is close enough.

Rotoworld has it listed as:

2011: $1.405 million
2012: $9.25 million
2013: $11.15 million
2014: $11.55 million
2015: $3.505 million (Voidable Year)
2016: Free Agent

That looks like another easy fix for us if we can move some of that money around. However, I don't know how soon he'd want to delay his big per year payday.

A Calvin deal must get done to open things up. Avril is the toughest to sign but it's possible with a Cavlin deal. Franchise and trade would be a good option if a Calvin deal is delayed.

Prowler, they can move the money around for Suh by converting some of the salary into a signing bonus. It could save 6 million in space but add 3 million to his number the next 2 years. Better people to restructure like KVB,Raiola and Burleson

And therein lies the problem. He is looking for Charles Johnson/Tamba Hali type money. He wants to get paid and he's making no bones about it.

He gets a 6 year deal worth $50-55million and likes it. $60million+ and he can walk. I'll take the draft pick over a bad contract.

If he wants too much money, then let'em walk. I've always been a fan of his since he's been here, but we can still produce without him.

Avril wants Charles Johnson money. Which had a 30 million Signing bonus. His cap hit could be around 8 million this year and rise (5 million SB allocation and say 3 million base) then say 10 cap hit, 11 cap hit, 12 cap hit, then 20 cap hit and 15 cap hit with various salaries and roster bonuses and a 5 SB every year. Structure it so he has a big salary in year 5 or year 6, so essentially it would be a 4 year deal as he would be cut in year 5. if he doesn't like a 30 million SB, hit the road Avril.

It all boils down to if they think Avril is worth Charles Johnson money. Plus Calvin is getting a big signing bonus. Lions better have some cash stocked up. I like Lo Jack and Young but this is probably KVBs last year too and Lo Jack is on his last year of his deal. What if LoJack has an 11 sack season benefitting from Suh. Young has two years as he will be restricted after this year.

No way should we franchise Avril. If we can't get him signed, we should give him the high tender which pays the average of the top 10 DE's over the past 5 years. If he signs elsewhere and we don't match, we get a 1st round pick that we can use to replace him with.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012021...060/1049/rss14

Negotiating ploy. Franchise tag for DEs was $12.9m last season and like $12.4 in 2010. We can give him $20m up front in a signing bonus to make him happy and then prorate it over 6 years, but no way is he getting $13m next year with our cap numbers.

This. Even if we restructure Calvin (for the extra 5 mil this year) and cut Goz. I don't exactly know what cutting KVB would save us.

Forgot the rules about posting stuff from other sites....

Just read on the four letter, Avril says if he is francised he will hold out. I am all for sign and trade, or whatever we can do to get some value from him. He had a great season but this team has too many holes to give Avril the world.

He'd hold out instead of getting $13m? **** him.

Yeah, said he wants some long term security. Dunno how it works, if we could pick up a pick or something with him. Wouldnt mind picking up Whitney Mercilus in round 1, depending on how the board falls.

Yeah, like $13 mil doesn't = long term security!
I guarantee if I got $13 for one year it would = long term security. And enough for my children, and their children.

When they feed us lines like that, it just cracks me up. BALDERDASH!

lol, he probably hangs out with Latrell Sprewell.

How does Tagging him and trading him to the Eagles even up for Asante Samuel sound? The Eagles are shopping him.

Can't, but I like the idea. Samuel's cap hit is $10.5m. I would like a little more space if we're going to jettison him. We should do a similar deal for a decent youngster that doesn't fit a team's scheme or a draft pick.

5 years ago, I would've said to put 50-mil into him and make him smile. Nowadays, NFL Players will have to accept (to some degree) that they simply cannot get these megadeals as much as they used to. You do truly have to be an elite player (or working for a foolish employer). It'd just be cheaper to trade him and get as much compensation as possible.

Also, I easily believe Everette Brown could develop into the same player Avril has. After all, Avril has really just had 1 good year. We've had to wait for him to show up.