Cliff Avril Hopes To Return To Lions, But Future Unclear For Now

Again, if the salary aspect wasn’t an issue, Avril would for sure be coming back.

Well no shit.

I don’t know why they have to expect outrageous deals that are better than the last guys all the time. He wants Charles Johnson type money, they should offer him10 max.

I hate to say this but drop Williams and Backus to resign Avril and a db..

There are some tough issues to deal with:

First, the new salary cap is lower than the previous case.

Second, while Cliff visibly improved on his pass rush, the team still had huge issues in run defense on the ends —both ends. The Lions gave up more than 5.5 ypc on runs of LE/LT and RE/RT. If I were going to give someone a big long-term contract, I’d want to give it to someone who is at least moderately solid in run D.

We need to play Lojack a lot more, in fact, he needs to be getting a good deal of the snaps. He gives us far more bang for the buck then Avril. The same should be said for Willie. If you project extensive playing time for these players, why would you be paying Avril all world money? For backup, draft a pass rushing DE that you can develope.

Williams will be asked to take a lighter contract since he’ll be taking far less snaps with Fairley around. You get a fresher Williams and gain more cap space. You also get a fresher KVB. You get to keep Hill and Fluellin for depth.s is addition by subtraction. I think the Dline will be better without Avril, next year and it can be done without extra cost.

The only shame is that the Lions could have traded Avril for a good draft choice.

It’s a real tricky situation, but they have to do what they can to hold on to this guy. He’s done just about everything you can ask a guy to do in his position. coming in as a third round pick and constantly improving each season working his way into a starting position. This coaching staff has excelled in developing average players into quality starters. Cliff has held up his end of the bargain. why shouldn’t the FO? What kind of message would be sent to the team if they didn’t pay him? How does a guy like Willie Young perceive that? I understand that Cliff hasn’t quite had the output for a top tier contract and that you can’t just pay him and risk having a contract hangover. The fact is, while he can fall asleep, he can also take over games. The league is way too pass heavy
to lose your best pass rusher; furthermore, if stays on track and improves for a fourth year in a row, then he will be worth a 10 mil contract.

BTW- I was shocked by Avril twice this year when he chased down two ball carriers that had to be faster than him to save touchdowns. I’ve never seen a lion try that hard.

Yes, he has gotten better and he did do well this year and he is fine as far as it goes but is he a big enough difference maker over LoJack? I don’t see it because Avril tends to be a liability against the run while Lojack isn’t. The difference maker on this defense, outside of Suh, is Fairley.

If we want the full development of Lojack we will have to give him snaps. Those would have to come from Avril so it doesn’t make since to give Avril a huge contract.

What sort of message would be sent if we let Lojack languish rather have a chance to live up to his potential?

Remember too, we have little cap space and other players to sign like Tullock and Wright.

If you believe that Avril is that big of a upgrade over LoJack or Young then you make that deal. If you believe, as I do, that he isn,t then you bring the other guys to the fore and give them their chance to make the money and show what they can do,

KVB is the heart and soul of this DLine. We are developing a group of young players and his leadership is essential for the development of this line. We need to cut his snaps, however, so he can be more effective and so the younger guys can get more snaps.

Avril needs a big pay day and it just ain’t there so we can’t keep him. It’s tough but it is what it is.

Wright played for the Lions injured for half the season before that I found him more effective than Houston. We had a top ten pass defense when he was at full strength. If we wanted to upgrade from that, we would have to have more room under the cap. You might not like him but you’re stuck with him. We probably are going to draft for better depth though.