Official release from the Lions:

The Detroit Lions are offering several, flexible season ticket packages for the 2009 season. Along with the Full Season Plan that includes all 10 Lions home games, fans can now purchase Half-Season Plans, "The Roar Zone" Plan, and the "Pick Your Games" Plan.

Along with the new flexible, season ticket packages, the Lions are offering the "All You Can Eat" Seat. This option is being made available to Detroit sports fans for the first time in this market in regular stadium seating areas.

"One of our most important business objectives is to present our fans with several options to attend Lions games at Ford Field that provide great value," said Lions President Tom Lewand. "We recognize that this is a tough economic environment for all fans, and increased flexibility is necessary to respond to that environment."

For further information on season tickets, fans can visit www.detroitlions.com/tickets or call the Lions Ticket Office at Ford Field (313.262.2002).

More after the jump.

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More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

16 days ago: Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr. watches during NFL football minicamp Wednesday, June 24, 2009, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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William Clay Ford doesn't speak to the media too often (the last time was after Matt Millen was fired last year), but he did just that on Wednesday after watching the Lions practice.  The full interview can be viewed here, but I'm going to highlight the more interesting parts below.

The conversation with Ford, as expected, started with Matt Millen.

Why didn’t it work with Millen?

"Again, tough one to answer. He didn’t really have much experience as far as being a general manager goes. He knows the game, obviously. Knew talent. Maybe he was a little precipitous about some of his judgments. I’m second-guessing him.

"But it didn’t work out, and he understood completely. There was no bitterness or rancor on his part. He said, ‘No, I can understand why you’re doing it, and I don’t blame you.’ "

Did you support him for too long?

"Well, maybe. But I think circumstances, timing, were important. You don’t want to jump ship after two games or one game or anything like that. When the fans were really getting fed up, you think, ‘OK, time to make a move.’ Thought about it, obviously. But the timing just worked out the way it did."

I don't want to rail on Ford this entire post, but it's stuff like the quote above that makes it hard not to do.  When the question about supporting Millen for too long was asked, I imagine most assumed it was referring to too many years.  Ford, on the other hand, seemed to think it was about supporting him for too long during last season.  That is just one of the many things that gives me so little confidence in him as the owner of the Lions.  No one cares about if Ford waited a game or two last season to get rid of Millen.  We sort of care more about how Ford waited for years and years to finally fire him.

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More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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A reader who works with the Lions via a sponsorship received a letter from the team and passed it along to me.  It apparently is the Lions' 2009 "State of the Team" address, and it features Jim Schwartz.  It sounds like it was also mailed out to season ticket holders based on the last two paragraphs.

Here is a text version of the letter:

Since becoming head coach of the Lions nearly four months ago, I have been extremely encouraged by what we've been able to accomplish so far this offseason.

For starters, we were able to put together an exceptional coaching staff, led by our two highly-respected coordinators--Scott Linehan and Gunther Cunningham.

I have also been extremely pleased by how our returning veteran players have responded to the offseason program, mini-camps, OTAs and our new coaching staff.  At our first team meeting I told our players that we--both players and coaches--have to prove ourselves to each other.  So far, our returning players have embraced both the challenge and opportunity to do just that.

We also improved our roster by adding quality veteran players like Julian Peterson, Philip Buchanan (sp), Bryant Johnson, Anthony Henry and Larry Foote.  And our scouts and personnel department did a tremendous job preparing us for the 2009 draft; one I sincerely believe will provide huge dividends for years to come.

I've also been encouraged by you--our fans.  Your passion for this football team is undeniable.  I have seen it and lived it every day that I have been on the job.  This type of passion and support tells me just how important the Lions are to this community, and it also underscores the obligation we have to produce a winner for our fans.

Please don't underestimate how vital you are to the success of our football team.  You can help create the greatest home-field advantage in the NFL at Ford Field and that can be the difference between winning and losing.

So as we continue to work each day and build a football team that you can be proud of, I would personally like to thank each of you for your past support of the Lions and encourage you to be there again at Ford Field this season.  Your support in the stands will undoubtedly help us be successful on the field.

Jim Schwartz

P.S. - I hope all of you like our new logo as much as I do.  Our players love it!

And here is an actual image of it (click to enlarge):

The reader who sent this to me said he's never received a letter like this before, so it's nice to see that the team is actually reaching out to the fans.  After last season, they need to do everything humanly possible to repair/maintain the relationship between the team and fans, and although winning is the ultimate solution to any problem that exists, a letter like the one above is a nice gesture in the mean time.

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

2 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, is seen during drills at the team's football practice facility in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, May 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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As soon as news came out that Matthew Stafford agreed to a deal with the Lions, we found out that nearly $42 million of his contract was guaranteed.  That figure was a record for guaranteed money, and as you can imagine, many were upset that he got such a big contract.  Well, as it turns out, Stafford is only absolutely guaranteed to receive around $17 million.  Chances are he will end up receiving most of the originally-reported $42 million, but there are incentives he has to achieve and an option for the 2014 season that has to be picked up by the Lions in order for that to happen.  Technically, the money he could end up getting isn't actually guaranteed, but again, it is unlikely that he won't end up gettting it.

Why is there such a difference in what was originally reported compared to what we now know?  Well, AdamJT13 put together a thorough breakdown of Stafford's contract that reveals just how complex an NFL contract is.  Stafford's base salary over the years will change based on whether or not the Lions exercise his 2014 option and whether or not Stafford hits performance and playing time incentives.  The qualifiers based on playing time don't have to be achieved in the first year.  The performance-related incentives in the contract can change how much money Stafford makes, but it appears that the playing time qualifiers are more related to the $42 million figure.

This is all pretty complicated, but to put it in layman's terms, these qualifiers and the 2014 option basically protect the Lions in case Stafford turns out to be the bust of all busts.  For Stafford to only receive $17 million, he would have to never meet his playing time incentives, not have his option picked up for the 2014 season, and be cut in 2013 (if I'm understanding this correctly).  Busts at the quarterback position usually get a chance to play before they are actually declared a bust, which is why the guaranteed number has been reported to be $42 million.  It would be surprising if Stafford didn't meet his playing time qualifiers, and I doubt the Lions will not pick up his 2014 option (they have to make a decision on the option in 2010).

Bust or not, down the road, chances are that Matthew Stafford will have received close to or all of the $42 million in his contract that is supposedly guaranteed.  The thing is, it isn't really guaranteed.  AdamJT13 believes that Tom Condon, Stafford's agent, wants to toot his own horn, so to speak, by leading everyone to believe there is nearly $42 million guaranteed in his client's deal.  In reality, though, Stafford is only guaranteed to receive about $17 million.  He probably will receive much more than that, but it is not truthful to say that Stafford is absolutely guaranteed to get $42 million out of his deal with the Lions.

Larry Lage of the Associated Press talked with Larry Foote, and all signs point to him joining the Lions.

Larry Foote says the Detroit Lions have made him a contract offer and the linebacker’s first choice is to sign with his hometown team.

Foote said Tuesday night he met “everybody” at Lions headquarters in Allen Park, Mich., earlier in the day and that his agent, Ken Kremer, was working on completing a deal.

“They offered me something,” Foote said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I’m going to be wrestling with it tonight because they’re going back and forth with my agent as we speak. Playing in Detroit is definitely my first choice, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Let's hope everything goes smoothly and a deal is done sometime soon.  That way Larry Foote can join the team and the middle linebacker situation will no longer be a worry.  There will probably be some growing pains simply because Foote is used to playing in a 3-4 defense, but there is no question he would upgrade the position.  Mind you, that's not tough to do when all the Lions have is a rookie who just switched to the middle and a couple of other no-name players.  Regardless, though, Foote is a huge upgrade no matter what.

Middle linebacker Larry Foote is expected to be released after this weekend was released by the Steelers earlier today, and his next move may be to join the Detroit Lions, his hometown team.  Foote is a Detroit native, and there were rumors earlier in the year that he wanted to play for the Lions whenever his time in Pittsburgh was over.  Those rumors were never really confirmed, which is understandable since Foote probably didn't want to say something like that when he was still under contract with another team.  Now that he is a free agent, though, Foote isn't hiding his desire to play for the Lions.

"Detroit is always No. 1," said Foote, a Pershing grad who still spends his offseason in Detroit. "I mean, my agent is talking to them about me coming home, and we'll go from there. But no question about it, that's my first choice."

Foote went on to talk a bit about how he wanted to be traded and how one of the teams interested in him was Detroit.

"I don't know what the Steelers were doing in the whole process. They kept saying they were trying to get a trade. I know they were in talks with the Lions. But I don't know how it's gonna work. My agent (Ken Kremer) said the Lions tried to get me, but I still don't know how bad they want me."

Tom Kowalski hypothesized that the Lions very well may have not worried about drafting a middle linebacker this past weekend because of Larry Foote.  This move was a foregone conclusion, and it was no secret that Foote wanted to be a Lion.  Couple that with the fact that defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham has said he doesn't like starting a bunch of rookies and this may have been some smart planning on the Lions' part.  Foote is someone that would start from day one and bring great leadership to the defense.  He is a Detroit native, a former University of Michigan player, and someone that spends his offseasons in his home state.  I can't think of anybody that would play harder for the Lions than Foote.

UPDATE: There seems to be some conflicting information about whether or not Foote has already been released.  According to the transactions list on NFL.com, Foote was cut today, so I'm assuming that info is accurate.

UPDATE II: The Steelers have not released Foote just yet, as it appears they are trying to trade him before simply letting him go.  The expectation is that he will be released after this weekend, so let's hope no other team trades for him before then.

Three years ago, Pride of Detroit launched right before the 2006 NFL Draft.  It has been a wild ride for Lions fans since then, and time certainly has flown by.  POD is already celebrating its three-year birthday, which is beyond hard to believe.  It seems like the site just turned two, but then again, the past year has seemed like one big blur to me.  Part of that is probably because of just how quickly so many great things happened to POD in the last 12 months.

For starters, the change in the amount of interaction on the site has been amazing in just these last few months.  It was already starting to get better after the season, but it has really taken off since February.  Proof of that is in this amazing statistic: The total amount of new comments just on front-page posts this weekend was over 6,000.  6,000!  If you add in all of the new FanPosts and comments on them, I'm willing to bet that number was close to or even over 7,000.

Aside from the change in interaction, the amount of traffic POD has seen in the last couple of months has been truly unbelievable to me.  Like the interaction, it was starting to pick up after the season, and then once free agency hit it took off.  Single-day records were broken multiple times, the monthly record has been shattered again, and the traffic levels from this past week are truly humbling to me.  During the draft, there were almost 67,000 page views.  That number actually looks small compared to the day after the new logo/uniforms were revealed, though.  Last Tuesday, POD set a single-day record that will probably not be broken for some time: over 85,000 page views.  For draft week, there were over 230,000 page views, helping make April POD's biggest month ever with nearly 400,000 page views.  Considering in April 2008 the site only got around 27,000 page views for the entire month, it's hard to believe how far POD has come in only a year.

Anyways, I just want to give a big thanks to everyone out there for making Pride of Detroit the great community that it has become.  Without you this obviously wouldn't be possible, so thanks and here's to more success -- both for the site and the team -- in the rest of 2009 and early 2010.

Matthew Stafford jerseys are now available at the Detroit Lions Store.  Take a look:

Replica jerseys cost $80 and authentic jerseys are a whopping $275.