Nate Burleson willing to take pay cut to remain with Lions?

Just like last offseason, the Detroit Lions face a tough salary cap situation this year. While they are expected to have more cap space once free agency opens, that's partly because so many players are free agents this year. Simply bringing back a few key free agents could prove to be difficult, and this could force the Lions to make some tough decisions with veterans like Kyle Vanden Bosch and Nate Burleson.

In Burleson's situation, one solution may be for him to stick with the team after taking a pay cut. This would allow the Lions more roster flexibility, and it would allow Burleson to remain with the team he wants to retire with. While he didn't come right out and say that he would be fine with a pay cut, he did hint at it on Monday. From MLive:

"We'll see what happens," Burleson said. "I talked the coaches, actually talked to Martin (Mayhew) upstairs. He talked about my value to the team and being missed on and off the field. I told him I wanted retire here and he said he felt the same way. He said he loves me, the team loves me, so we'll figure it out. I think it takes both sides to make that happen.

"If anybody knows me, it's more about football than anything else," Burleson continued "Without saying too much, I'm willing to work it out because I love this team and I feel this is my best chance to win a Super Bowl before I shut it down in a few more years."

While the Lions will need salary cap space, it's not like they're exactly overflowing with depth at wide receiver thanks to Titus Young's behavior and Ryan Broyles' ACL injury. Also, the Lions aren't overflowing with leaders like Burleson, so it would definitely be good if they could find a way to keep him around at a lesser cap hit.

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