Monday, February 11, 2013
Avril sticking in Detroit?
By Tim Kavanagh
The big theme during the early part of this offseason for the Detroit Lions is which of their impending free agents -- including six starters on defense -- will be re-signed. One of the key figures in the discussion is DE Cliff Avril, who was the franchise taggee in 2012.
Another tag for Avril would run the Lions $12.7 million, so that's not a likely outcome. The Lions reportedly put a three-year, $30 million offer on the table last offseason, but that was not to Avril's liking for one reason or another, otherwise we'd be having a different debate right now. True to form, Lions GM Martin Mayhew isn't revealing too much in terms of the current negotiations with Avril or any of the other impending FAs.
"All those guys that are free agents we're continuing to have discussions about," Mayhew indicated, per the Detroit Free Press. "I talked to a few of their agents and we've got ample time to sort through those situations.
"If you go back and look at our history here, we haven't had a lot of free agents that we really wanted to have back that we didn't get back. We haven't had a lot of guys that were free agents here that we thought were good players that went somewhere else and they performed great somewhere else. You can go back and take a look at that. The guys that we want back we have been able to get back for the most part."
With Avril's claims that he can play either in a 4-3 (as has been the case in Detroit) or a 3-4, it appears his goal is to maximize his perceived worth, which in turn should yield a lucrative contract, either from the Lions or someone else. Whether he succeeds remains to be seen.
