He is a Seahawk now.

In short, Avril turned down a three-year, $30 million deal from the Lions last year, which would have made him a free agent again at 28. Instead, he signed a two year, $15 million deal, which will make him a free agent at 28, for $15 million less than he could have had.

Real shrewd negotiations there Cliffy.

It'll be fun to see who's fault this was. If he gets a new agent soon we know the agent was giving him bad advice, if he stays then it was all on Avril's ego.

In fairness it's not $15 million less than he could have made. He actually made more last year than he would have made if he signed the original contract offer, and will make less in the next 2 years. Overall it's more like $4.5 million less than he could have made. A lot of money still, but not the same as 15 million.

Officially hoping this guy is a bust in Seattle. For this guy to get up on his high horse and then settle for less when we'd already made other plans really bugs me.

This. Screw Avril. He never was and still isn't worth $10mil/year.

Oh, I realize he made over 10 million on the franchise tag, which is a risk in an of itself. If Avril blows out a knee, he wouldn't even be getting a sniff as a FA. On that note, he turned down 3 years and an additional 20 million to be able to get "big bucks" in free agency this year. Worked for Joe Flacco, but for Cliff... not so much.

Don't think that $4.5 million isn't a huge amount of money to players. It has been reported (and I believe confirmed) that Flacco and the Ravens were about $1 million apart over the total LENGTH of the contract during last summer's negotiations. So $2.25 million a year difference is significant. It's not $15 million, but Avril still looks like an idiot in my opinion. He will be a free agent again in two years, same as if he had taken the contract the Lions offered last year, only for less money and a new system. I've also read articles where Avril is supposed to be a replacement for the same guy Bruce Irvin is supposed to replace. Now if that's true, one of the two is looking at a position change. I'm guessing Irvin isn't going to move.

I tend to agree, although in going to the Seahawks you could see it as him taking a bit of a discount to get on a team that should be a contender the next 2 years. $15m and a ring wouldn't be anything to be sniffed at.

We were thought to be contenders last offseason, and he didn't take a discount for us. I think he just got stuck without a chair when the music stopped.

agreed, and couldn't take the humility of returning to the Lions with "egg on his face". So he took the only offer brought forth, so that he wouldn't have to humble himself. But of course, this is only my opinion.

Personally, I think he just wanted out. He thinks he's a top DE in the league and here there is always the arguement that he is a product of the rest of the line. I dont think his ego liked that very much.


Normally I'd wish him the best, but since he pretty much screwed our free agency period last year I say good ridance.

Your right on a lot of this, but I don't think your reading Seattle's team correctly. Unless they change some things up because of Gus Bradley leaving, Avril and Bruce Irvin can easily play the same spot. Irvin is on a rookie deal and is so bad as a run defender he makes Avril look like a run stuffer. Avril has been brought in to replace Chris Clemons at their "leo" position and will probably get spelled by Irvin on some pure passing downs so they can keep Avril as fresh as possible. This team is Avril's best chance at keeping his stats up, but I think Seattle going to still feel the loss of Clemons because I don't see Avril being able to fill his shoes.

He did us a HUGE favor by not signing that ridiculous 3 year $30 million dollar deal with $20 million in guaranteed money. Mayhew was a fool for even offering it to him, and it just goes to show Mayhew's incompetence.

To be fair, Mayhew has moments of absolute clarity.

On the other hand, you have some examples where he does things that seem wrong even to us.

The stuff you have complained about since last offseason has come to pass in many cases. Many folks did not look at things the way you did. Probably me as well.

However, what we do not know, is if Martin M considered those things that you have brought up at the right time or not.

Have you, WJB, considered the possibility that Mayhew did in fact understand the basis of your many arguments about salary and choose to roll the dice on a team he thought could move forward in 2012 and win in the playoffs? I'm pretty sure he thought the Lions could win, but history shows he was incorrect. He seems to have returned to the ruthless original nature of his methods where he swaps personnel when he is convinced he need better players. I think we saw this in the beginning of his tenure. he is signing FA for non blockbuster prices, letting average guys walk for the big $$ and so on.

Anyway, the crux of my thought is that maybe Mayhew understood those problems you brought up, and deicded to risk them in an effort to win now. In that scenario, he lost out. I wish he had less affinity for early round WR, but I guess that is what we are in for at this stage. The lions build through skill players. the Lineman come later, except on D. Kind of the Wayne Fontes plan in a way. I personally would like to see more 2-3-4 rd picks spent on OL and DL, but who knows what will transpire soon?

My point is that he might not really be the fool you make him out to be, even though he was wrong last year. He made a bet , and he lost. What we do not know is whether or not he knew he was betting or not..

I get that, but his failure to correct even the most glaring problems/issues (no #2 Cb, no #2 Wr, no experience at Rb, keeping Peterman at OG were all issues that were severely lacking in 2012 when we made our playoff run. To me, it was like knowing we weren't good enough in 2012, and keeping things the same anyhow. We didn't get better at ANY position going from 2012 to 2013, even with a first round draft pick! That's pretty remarkable!

If we would have "kept the same spirit" of a team, or "held together the nucleus" or something of that nature, I could understand. To hold together a team that was obviously not good enough seems... well... Stoopid...