On Thursday, Mark Sanchez told FanHouse's Ariel Helwani (as well as everybody else he talked to the last week or so) that he was all but certain quarterback Matthew Stafford would go to the Lions with the first overall pick.
Looks like he was right.
A week ago, the team reportedly opened negotiations with Stafford, offensive tackle Jason Smith and linebacker Aaron Curry, presumably in an effort to guarantee that they had somebody under contract come Saturday at 4PM ET.
The last thing an organization coming off an 0-16 season and a front-office shakeup needs is to have the first-overall selection and franchise quarterback holding out through training camp for more dough. JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn both did it in 2007. It's hard to blame those lost months on unspectacular careers to date, but missing time couldn't have helped.
We're less than an hour from Draft Day 2009, and FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer has some good news:(Well, it's good news in the sense that the Lions have the guy they wanted under contract. Not so good news if you're of the opinion that the team would've been better off with Smith or Curry.)
The Lions have agreed to contract terms with Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, FOXSports.com has learned. It is a six-year, $78 million deal, with $41.7 million guaranteed.
The two sides have been working on a deal diligently for the past 72 hours. The team had been negotiating with Stafford and Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith before ultimately deciding on Stafford as the target.
The proponents of a rookie wage scale will certainly use the fact that Stafford's getting $78 million guaranteed (Mlive.com's Tom Kowalski reports that it's $72 million in guarantees, not $78 million) in their argument. The new contract makes him the richest draft choice in history, surpassing the six-year, $72 million deal Matt Ryan signed last year. The 2008 No. 1 pick, Jake Long, received a five-year, $57.75 million contract from Miami.
And while the first-overall selection in 2009 should make more than his 2008 counterpart, how about this: Ben Roethlisberger, two-time Super Bowl champ, got $36 million guaranteed in the contract extension he inked last offseason.
In any event, the club has avoided the possibility of a holdout, and more importantly, it probably means Drew Stanton has thrown his last duck for the Lions.
Fanhouse.com
Looks like he was right.
A week ago, the team reportedly opened negotiations with Stafford, offensive tackle Jason Smith and linebacker Aaron Curry, presumably in an effort to guarantee that they had somebody under contract come Saturday at 4PM ET.
The last thing an organization coming off an 0-16 season and a front-office shakeup needs is to have the first-overall selection and franchise quarterback holding out through training camp for more dough. JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn both did it in 2007. It's hard to blame those lost months on unspectacular careers to date, but missing time couldn't have helped.
We're less than an hour from Draft Day 2009, and FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer has some good news:(Well, it's good news in the sense that the Lions have the guy they wanted under contract. Not so good news if you're of the opinion that the team would've been better off with Smith or Curry.)
The Lions have agreed to contract terms with Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, FOXSports.com has learned. It is a six-year, $78 million deal, with $41.7 million guaranteed.
The two sides have been working on a deal diligently for the past 72 hours. The team had been negotiating with Stafford and Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith before ultimately deciding on Stafford as the target.
The proponents of a rookie wage scale will certainly use the fact that Stafford's getting $78 million guaranteed (Mlive.com's Tom Kowalski reports that it's $72 million in guarantees, not $78 million) in their argument. The new contract makes him the richest draft choice in history, surpassing the six-year, $72 million deal Matt Ryan signed last year. The 2008 No. 1 pick, Jake Long, received a five-year, $57.75 million contract from Miami.
And while the first-overall selection in 2009 should make more than his 2008 counterpart, how about this: Ben Roethlisberger, two-time Super Bowl champ, got $36 million guaranteed in the contract extension he inked last offseason.
In any event, the club has avoided the possibility of a holdout, and more importantly, it probably means Drew Stanton has thrown his last duck for the Lions.
Fanhouse.com
