FanPost

Fall Out from Cliff Avril Franchise Tag!


Much has been written about Cliff Avril and his tag in relation to the Lions future and to its immediate needs. It seems that there is one thing that Avril certainly stopped us from doing......and that's trade for Asante Samuel. We worked out a deal last off season for him and were willing to give up a 2nd round pick. What did Atlanta have to give up to acquire him? A late round pick. And whats even more sad.....is that Asante restructured his deal immensely. 3 years 18.5 Mil. You read that correctly. 6 mil a year for a pro-bowl caliber corner who has at least a year or 2 left in the tank.

As part of the transaction, Samuel restructured his contract, agreeing to a three-year, $18.5 million deal with the Falcons. Samuels' contract with the Eagles had called for him to earn $9.9 million this season and $11.4 million in 2013.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7853300/atlanta-falcons-acquire-asante-samuel-philadelphia-eagles-sources-say

For those of you who don't think that Avril's contract situation and demands are stopping this team from improving......I think this is pretty strong evidence. Of coarse there are a million variables that come into play....but without our FO knowing what Avril's future was going to look like there was no way we could make this deal. It would have been a world class Mayhewing. Atlanta is getting one heck of a steal. A steal that I think we should have gotten. If only....

Imagine going into the draft with Asante Samuel on the roster. Would and should have been nice.

Can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.