Lions agree to deal with Matthew Stafford

**d.mcc** · April-24-09, 11:58 PM

Oh...How I HATE the Lions!!! Down Economy??? Don't bother telling FAT Stafford's agents

The Lions have agreed to a deal to make Georgia quarterback Matthew Staffford the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. The deal is for six years. Its maximum value is $78 million , with $41.7 million guaranteed.

**firstandten** · April-25-09, 12:03 AM

Joey Harrington part 2

Poor kid there setting him up for failure

**d.mcc** · April-25-09, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by firstandten

Joey Harrington part 2

Poor kid there setting him up for failure

Are you kidding me, even Ryan Leaf probably thinks this kids gonna bust. Should be great to have this discussion 3 years from now, right after they announce a new coach and slick new Jerseys...

What a Joke...

**Hamtragedy** · April-25-09, 02:43 AM

Lions free for 6 more years

Blarf · April-25-09, 03:26 AM

Defending Stanley Cup champions are in the run, very little attention.

And 0-16 team that hasn't done anything in about a half-century gets first draft pick, everyone is obsessed.

I don't get it.

**rajdet** · April-25-09, 06:11 AM

I don't get it. The worst defense ever, in the history of the NFL, and they use the first pick in the draft for what most insiders consider the third best Quarterback in his college conference.

**irish_mafia** · April-25-09, 06:42 AM

Bill Ford..Its an illness, an incurable illness

Thank God I spent 10 years in Pittsburgh and have a football team that I can route for.

**rajdet** · April-25-09, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Blarf

Defending Stanley Cup champions are in the run, very little attention.And 0-16 team that hasn't done anything in about a half-century gets first draft pick, everyone is obsessed. I don't get it.

Blarf, My entire extended family had a block of Lions season tickets back when they played in Briggs Stadium. My guess is at least 40 seats. Sundays in the fall were about going to church, breakfast at my Grandma's and going down to see the Leos when they actually won games. Roots run deep my friend. Go Wings!
P.S. I am officially in mourning in regards to "MY" Pistons. Thanks A. I.

**daddeeo** · April-25-09, 09:00 AM

Gosh, the guy hasn't played a down and folks here are crucifying him. The Lions have plenty of draft choices this year so let's see what they do with the rest of them.
Very few teams are any good for any length of time without a good quarterback.
I expect the coach will address the defensive short comings as well. That's his special area of expertise.
Stafford will work out fine. Chill.

**Lowell** · April-25-09, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by rajdet

I don't get it. The worst defense ever, in the history of the NFL, and they use the first pick in the draft for what most insiders consider the third best Quarterback in his college conference.

The only rationale I can think of is that they are hoping they can get some kind of offensive spark. If we think of football as the theater it is, the audience would rather see a game where we lose by a 40-30 score than a 12-6 score filled with three and out punts.

The pressure on this kid is going to be immense. All I can ask is that they throw him straight into combat for the full season and not 'mentor' him because Dante Culpepper happens to show some life. They did that with their last big number one QB pick Andre Ware and IMO he never got a chance.

**thecarl** · April-25-09, 09:23 AM

the lions have customized a piece of practice equipment for matt stafford:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ru...s-Elli_vr1.jpg

**7andkelly** · April-25-09, 09:25 AM

When you're sitting on the first overall pick, any move you make is going to be a gamble. It was a gutsy call by Mr. Mayhew ... a make-or-break signature move.

"Pressure"? Are you kidding me? Sure the kid's going to want to perform, and I am surely rooting for him to succeed, but with $41 million guaranteed, he can just say "Screw 'em if they don't like the way I play".

I agree, though. Start him right away. He's not a China doll.

**d.mcc** · April-25-09, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by 7andkelly

When you're sitting on the first overall pick, any move you make is going to be a gamble. It was a gutsy call by Mr. Mayhew ... a make-or-break signature move.

"Pressure"? Are you kidding me? Sure the kid's going to want to perform, and I am surely rooting for him to succeed, but with $41 million guaranteed, he can just say "Screw 'em if they don't like the way I play".

I agree, though. Start him right away. He's not a China doll.

Start him right away??? David Carr, Alex Smith, Ryan Leaf all think that's a stellar idea!

**Zug** · April-25-09, 11:33 AM

I can understand people being upset about the money...or not going for defense or an offensive lineman...but people need to stop with the Joey part 2 stuff. I for one have only seen him play an entire game once, and that was against Michigan State. I have never seen Curry play an entire game. I probably have seen some of the highly rated offensive linemen play, but hardly anyone really pays attention to what theyre doing...including myself. Bottom line...even though I'm a huge football fan, I have no intimate knowledge of these guys workouts or what the team really feel they need. I for one was optimistic about Stafford when I heard that he was near flawless in his workouts, has a stronger arm than most pro QBs, and was at the top of the draft class on the Wonderlich test. At least give the guy a chance to fail before we call him a bust. And the argument that there are better QBs in his conference doesn't mean much...by this point, any football fan should know that the highest pro prospects aren't always the best college players. Tim Tebow won the Heisman and a national championship at QB & next year he's more likely to be drafted as a receiver or tight end.

**Prodigal_Son** · April-25-09, 12:39 PM

Young quarterbacks bring out a mean streak in Detroiters. For his own sake, I wish Stafford had been passed up by the Fords [[I mean, the Lions).

**daddeeo** · April-25-09, 09:23 PM

I like Stafford's attitude plus he wants to play in Detroit and he is from Texas. Look way back partners and see some of the best Lions [[in their glory years) were from Texas [[Layne, Lary etc.).

**border5150** · April-25-09, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by Blarf

Defending Stanley Cup champions are in the run, very little attention.

And 0-16 team that hasn't done anything in about a half-century gets first draft pick, everyone is obsessed.

I don't get it.

Outside of the Canadian cities and the NHL's few domestic strongholds [[Detroit, Chicago, Boston) no one really gives a crap about the NHL nationally. Hockey games televised on ESPN got basically the same ratings as the WNBA.

The NFL is the most popular televised sport in the Unites States - by far...

That's why.

crawford · April-25-09, 10:52 PM

How on earth could they not go defense? Last year wasn't quite bad enough?

And if you're going to take a QB, why not Sanchez, whom most experts prefer?

**MrJones** · April-25-09, 11:35 PM

Heard a telling stat on the radio last week -
Of 39 or so draft picks the Lions made between 2002 and 2006, only 2 are still Lions.
Conversely, the Broncos have kept a similar percentage of their picks over the same time period. Likewise for the Giants.
Most of blame for that seemed to fall at Millen's feet because of overriding his draft advisors.
I'm no expert, but on the surface this Stafford pick doesn't look any better.
I guess if you have four QBs you don't need to protect them so much.

**Hornist9** · April-26-09, 07:58 AM

Well, for Better or for Worse the Loins have Stafford. In my opinion, the various hosts on the "Ticket" were so in love with Aaron Curry that they tried so very hard to taint the Loins pick EVERY opportunity they could. The on air talent on the Ticket really tried to "Jedi Mind Trick" their listeners with this Aaron Curry talk for the past months. I got so sick of it, when I would hear Mike Valenti, I would curse, and change the channel. In my opinion, he's as full of shit as a Christmas goose. If I were Loins management, I'd have something to say, as the Ticket is flagship station of Loins Football.

They need a QB and if they are smart, they won't throw him to the wolves like they did Harrington. Hopefully through the day today, they will draft the offensive linemen needed and develop them. This team is not going to be in the playoffs anytime soon, as they help at all positions so let's shut up and give this kid some time to learn how to be the Quarterback the Loins need.

**Olddetroiter** · April-26-09, 08:50 AM

Open letter to Matthew Staffford... Welcome to the graveyard of high potential quarterbacks. Unless you can get traded fast your career ends here.

**Prodigal_Son** · April-26-09, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by Hornist9

...let's shut up and give this kid some time to learn how to be the Quarterback the Loins need.

Stafford is the sexy pick, which I guess explains why you typed in Loins instead of Lions. Just sayin.

**Big Dog** · April-26-09, 03:15 PM

IMO, they took Stafford to fill their seats, not to fill their needs. Lions fans gotta be the biggest time SUCKERS. Buy those tickets SUCKA'S.

**Zug** · April-26-09, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Big Dog

IMO, they took Stafford to fill their seats, not to fill their needs. Lions fans gotta be the biggest time SUCKERS. Buy those tickets SUCKA'S.

Nah...the Lions fans were upset in general about the pick. I doubt they did this to appease them. The easy, fan friendly choice would have been to take Curry for less money. To me, it says that the Lions actually think Stafford is the best QB prospect theyre likely to get in the next couple years.

**firstandten** · April-26-09, 09:49 PM

Its not that the kid is bad but they are paying him big money and he hasn't played one down in professional football. Because they drafted him numero uno the pressure is to play him. Unless the Lions put some talent around him, like an offensive line one of two more running backs, some defensive talent that can stop teams. He needs to be able to manage the game or just be able to do enough to win the game. If they try to make a game changer / play maker out of him right now he will fail because the Lions don't have enough talent for that to happen.

The reason I called him Joey pt 2 because I think he [[Joey) lost only a handful of games in his entire college career. By the time the Lions finally gave up on him he was only a shell of what he was coming out of college. I feel if the Lions don't handle this differently the same thing will happen with Stafford.