2013 Detroit Lions

[Thruster315]

Four years for Caldwell. Dollar amounts unannounced.

It ain't my money but I guess they had to sweeten the pot in order to land ANY coach. But I still stick by my call to get some serious improvement to get this thing over the hump in two to three years.

[rb336]

Four years for Caldwell. Dollar amounts unannounced.

It ain't my money but I guess they had to sweeten the pot in order to land ANY coach. But I still stick by my call to get some serious improvement to get this thing over the hump in two to three years.

What is "sweeten the pot"? four years is not an overly long contract, and the titans allegedly paid Whiz $1 million/year more than the Lions were willing to pay

[Thruster315]

What is "sweeten the pot"? four years is not an overly long contract, and the titans allegedly paid Whiz $1 million/year more than the Lions were willing to pay

It was in reference to my desire to only give Caldwell a three year deal. It's not a dollar amount; it's the length of time. Like I posted earlier, he's got some talent here to work with. If he's as good as advertised, I'm thinking he should be able to get some results in that three year window. He should be given benchmarks he needs to meet before he's even given a fourth or fifth year. That additional fourth year is security for him and might not serve the Lions if he ends stinking up the joint. Some say Schwartz' deal wasn't that long either but right now the Lions are paying him $12 million for the last two years of his deal.

[smogboy]

It was in reference to my desire to only give Caldwell a three year deal. It's not a dollar amount; it's the length of time. Like I posted earlier, he's got some talent here to work with. If he's as good as advertised, I'm thinking he should be able to get some results in that three year window. He should be given benchmarks he needs to meet before he's even given a fourth or fifth year. That additional fourth year is security for him and might not serve the Lions if he ends stinking up the joint. Some say Schwartz' deal wasn't that long either but right now the Lions are paying him $12 million for the last two years of his deal.

I don't think there is a football coach out there willing to take on any NFL job for a three year deal. It's got to be four years for him. Look at it from Caldwell's point of view. He doesn't want to be a vagabond constantly traipsing his family all across the country for his next job. He seems like a nice likable family man who still wants to provide his family some sort of stability.

I understand your desire for the Lions to duck out of the deal and fire him if he doesn't any sort of results, but it's obviously a sellers' market right now.

And even logistically for him to re-vamp the team, he's not going to be able to do it overnight. From the sounds of things, he's gathering his coordinators now or at least trying to depending on how the playoffs shake down. I'm also sure that for the players it's going to take some adjustment for them as well. I've heard that many of the plays still might be the same, but the terms might be a bit different. What terms Schwartz & Linehan called will probably be entirely different from what Caldwell and his staff will call them- and the players will have to adjust. We simply need to give Caldwell and the team some adjustment period. I'm not sure if one training camp will be enough; it'll be a work in progress.

I do agree that he and his staff do have to have some sort of benchmarks though. They need a criteria to achieve- and anything less than that should be grounds for getting fired. I'm hoping that Caldwell has a vision with the team and a rationale to achieve it.