Notes: Golladay wants to return to Detroit next year

Injured wide receiver Kenny Golladay held a video conference call with the media on Friday, and one of the subjects that came up was whether he would be part of the team next season. Golladay’s contract expires at the end of this season, and no news about a possible extension has appeared since games began in September. Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger told Pride of Detroit back in August that a new deal to keep Golladay in Detroit would likely run the team $80 million over five years with around $35-$40 million guaranteed.

The Detroit News’ Justin Rogers thinks that based on the contracts issued to wide receivers over the past few months, it could be a little more than that and cost between $18-$20 million per season. Dave Birkett with the Detroit Free Press also covered the video call and highlighted Golladay’s mention of loyalty:

“I want to be here, like the city, like what’s going on,” Golladay said in his first public comments since October.

Asked to explain why, Golladay said he feels loyalty to the team that drafted him.

“They believed in me,” he said. “And say, if a contract, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, then I’ll go somewhere else and ball out and play. But like I say, I’m a loyal person and of course I want to be here. I started my career here.”

Though the former Pro Bowler would rather have a long-term deal in place, he acknowledged that the Lions need to find a new general manager before anything further happens. From MLive’s Ben Raven:

“Nothing can get done right now until the organization figures out which direction it wants to go,” Golladay said via Zoom on Friday. “I guess the conversation will come back up when that decision is made.

The Lions will not have Golladay on the gameday active roster against Tennessee this coming Sunday, and it is unclear if he will be able to return to the field before the end of the season. With some luck, we’ll get more Stafford to Golladay touchdown connections this season and hopefully many more next year. Now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:

• CBS Sports NFL Analyst Jonathan Jones has a wide-ranging list of 30 likely general manager candidates for teams (like the Lions) who need a new one for next year (hat tip to Justin Rogers for finding this).

• An interesting find by MLive’s Ben Raven:

• A quick breakdown of a protection breakdown for the Lions against the Packers:

• Some Lions-affiliated folks doing charitable stuff during the holiday season. First up, we have Kelly Stafford’s visit to the Woodward Sports studio:

The Adrian and Ashley Peterson Foundation teamed up with Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit and Old Navy to get winter coats to kids:

• Paging Alex Reno - former Lions second-round pick Teez Tabor visited the team once again owned by the Detroit Lions: