August 28th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 1:18 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 1:47 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 3:20 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 6:13 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 9:24 AM ^
but maybe not.
August 29th, 2017 at 9:21 AM ^
I HATE THIS TAKE. It is so lazy.
Last I checked no one on this board owned a team. So here is an idea lets not have sports talk anymore. no more sports talk. we cant be critical of college athletes because they are 18-22. We cant be critical of pro athletes because we do not pay their salary.
If you want to debate how good Stafford is then fine but dont use the "you dont pay his salary" card in a hard salary cap league bozo.
And heres a kicker your Lions will never win a superbowl with Stafford, suck on that.
August 29th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
... your Lions will never win a superbowl, suck on that.
Fixed that for you.
August 28th, 2017 at 11:31 PM ^
How many playoff wins does he have again?
And HOW MUCH are they paying him?!
August 29th, 2017 at 6:37 AM ^
...he will still make less than his High School baseball battery mate.
August 29th, 2017 at 12:23 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 12:48 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 5:24 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 8:19 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^
Stafford is a top 8-10 QB which is not an average QB.
August 29th, 2017 at 12:58 AM ^
Mark Sanchez is 4-2 in the playoffs because he had a great defense. You give Stafford a good defense and running game and he would've had some playoff wins by now.
August 29th, 2017 at 1:53 AM ^
and running game when you're paying him so much money?!
Lions will continue to be mediocre for the duration of this contract. Yes, this keeps them from being terrible because he's a solid QB, and it's not a terrible contract but it's still too much money.
That's the tough part about the NFL. If you don't have a top 5-7ish guy that is worth a lot more than he's making (Brady, Rodgers, Wilson), it's nearly impossible to pass up overpaying a middle tier guy like Stafford to avoid being bad, even if makes being legitimately good difficult.
It's definitely better than hugely overpaying a Sam Bradford or Brock Osweiler, and the only other option is to test a young guy/rookie and hope to hit it lucky.
August 29th, 2017 at 4:02 AM ^
so his team had more money to acquire free agent players to keep them in the upper eschelon of the NFL.
I would have preferred that Stafford took less in order to help the Lions get better. It would have endeared him to fans and fellow players alike. How much money is enough? Typical me first player.
He also has benefitted greatly already by coming into the league before the rookie salary cap was created. Its not like he hasn't been paid yet!
August 29th, 2017 at 6:55 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 7:10 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 7:41 AM ^
All your points are valid except for one. "Brady doesn't need the money." The insinuation is that Stafford needs 27 million. It must be tough living on just 15-20 million.
August 29th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^
His place at the top of the league is already well established. Contracts are used for bragging rights, to validate where players think they stand. For every person claiming Stafford is no more than a mediocre starting QB, his contract argues otherwise. Of course, the money is nice too, but you rarely see players doing what Brady did until they've accomplished a lot.
August 29th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^
Brady also is being paid under the table to make up for the lower base salary. It hasn't been confirmed but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.
August 29th, 2017 at 7:41 AM ^
That we are talking the Lions' front office. Give them salary cap space, and...um...maybe they would spend it more wisely than Washington, maybe.
August 29th, 2017 at 7:46 AM ^
No offense man, but taking less money so the Lion front office has more to work with versus taking less money so the Patriot front office has more to work with is not what I would call a fair comparison.
August 29th, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^
You do realize the Lions hired a guy who was in the Patriots front office for something like 15 years, so it is kind of a fair comparison.
August 29th, 2017 at 8:37 AM ^
Actually Stafford has restructured his contract in the past to provide more cap space for the Lion's to sign free agents. In fact he's done it twice according to this article:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82789c9a/article/lions-suh-staffo…
Even if he hadn't restructured his contract, he still isn't a "selfish player". It is his agent's job to get him as much money as possible, especially in the prime of his career. You also have to consider the market, meaning that every time a quarterback gets a new contract, 9 times out of 10 it is the highest paying contract (or close to it) at the time of it's signing. Next year Brees and Cousins will both sign contracts that pay more money than Stafford's. Player salaries are always going up in the NFL, just like they should be. As the league makes more money it is only natural that the players get a larger piece of the pie
August 29th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
If Stafford suffered a serious injury and couldn't play, you think the Lions would have still paid him as much even though he took less? Fuck loyalty, if the Lions are willing to open up the bank, I'm glad Stafford is taking advantage.
August 29th, 2017 at 11:57 AM ^
Brady also has a Bunchen that out earns him, where Staffy has a Kelly that out-blabbers him. I hate that one player gets so much of the cap, but hey - can't fault Stafford too much. He was in an incredibly powerful bargaining position. The Lions could ill-afford to gamble replacing him, and losing him would be another black eye after the way Calvin was handled. All that said, I hope Stafford lives up to his monetary value...
August 29th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 4:44 PM ^
Like I said, another option is to try to find a young guy/rookie that ends up being good and drastically underpaid so you can also build a great defense and running game. I'm a little disappointed we didn't take our chances with this.
That's how the Ravens won both of their Super Bowls (and look how mediocre they've become since they overpaid Flacco), that's how the Seahawks won their Super Bowl (same mediocrity since paying Wilson), that's how the 9ers made the Super Bowl (and of course Haarrrrrbaugh). Eli in 2012 only had a cap hit of $9M which allowed the Giants to put together a great defense (he's been bumped up to the 20s ever since and they've been meh).
It's obvioulsy risky because your front office has to be good and disciplined. If it's not, you end up being the Browns or the Titans or the Jags or the Lions pre-Stafford.
Maybe the front office will hit on a ton of young guys on the line/defense to make up for it, and maybe Stafford did finally turn the corner last year to become closer to a top 5-7 guy than he had been. The Steelers have been successful with a fringe top 5-7 guy and solid drafting/player dev. This deal must mean the front office is confident this is the correct path and I hope they're correct.
August 29th, 2017 at 5:52 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 7:39 AM ^
lol, did he? how many playoff games did that "best receiver in history" win?
August 29th, 2017 at 7:43 AM ^
By the officials' incomprehensible rulings on a Megatron play?
August 29th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
Shouldn't Stafford be given that same benefit of the doubt? Shouldn't he also be given the benefit of the doubt on that game in Dallas, with the incomprehensible call, then non-call of pass interference on the guy who interfered with the Lions' TE late in the game?
August 29th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
But it costs money to have a great defense and a running game. Money you don't have if you pay an above average QB elite level money.
August 29th, 2017 at 8:20 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^
Just because he is the best option doesn't justify the size of contract.
August 29th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 3:09 PM ^
have two Super Bowl championship teams since 2000 that say otherwise.
August 29th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 9:14 AM ^
August 29th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
Avatar/Username checks out.
August 29th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^
How many quarterbacks in Detroit Lions HISTORY have led them to MULTIPLE 10 win seasons?
1 = Matt Stafford
August 29th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^