Detroit Lions defensive end Cliff Avril is currently a restricted free agent. He has been tendered at a first-round level and has previously said that he wants to sign a long-term deal with the Lions. Yesterday a report from Tom Kowalski suggested Avril and the Lions were close to making that long-term deal happen, but today Kowalski is reporting that it may take some time to get things worked out.
It appears the Lions are going to take care of all the more urgent matters at hand - signing undrafted free agents, signing drafted rookies and pursuing unrestricted free agents - before they get to Avril. The Lions will also be busy early in camp massaging the roster with potential trades and waiver wire transactions.
Kowalski thinks the Lions could wait until later on in training camp or even early on in the regular season to sign Avril to a long-term extension. In the meantime he could sign his one-year tender and then restructure the deal at a later date. That would at least allow him to get on the practice field and be ready for the season.
Personally I would be a bit surprised if it took that long for the Lions to get a long-term deal done with Avril. This week is certainly very hectic with so many things going on, but the UDFA and draft pick signings should be over with by the weekend. Even the unrestricted free agent signings should quiet down a bit by the weekend, so I'm sure the Lions will find time to work something out with Avril.