They begin the season Sunday, Sept. 10, at home against the Arizona Cardinals, where the Lions are currently 2.5-point favorites.<\/p>\n
Experts and pundits do like the moves the Lions made in the offseason, including improvements to both the offensive and defensive lines. The skill positions are a little light with wide receiver Golden Tait as the only bona fide star, so it will be up to Stafford to be as efficient as he was last year before a finger injury curtailed his productivity.<\/p>\n
If there’s one man facing more pressure than Stafford to perform, it’s General Manager Bob Quinn. Now in his second year at the Lions’ helm, he was brought on board to transform Detroit into a playoff-bound team, a feat he already accomplished in his rookie season.<\/p>\n
Now the heat is building for him and his staff to put players on the field that can win the organization\u2019s first postseason game since 1991.<\/p>\n
But Quinn did give himself some financial wiggle room by shedding money from wide receiver Calvin Johnson\u2019s monstrous contract (an 8-year extension for $132 million signed in 2012). This move helped allow him to lock up Stafford on his roster until 2022, while still able to shop around for additional talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, there\u2019s more money to go around,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s my job and the scouting department\u2019s job and our contract people\u2019s job to make everything fit and field the most competitive people that we can.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There was no doubt Matthew Stafford was the quarterback of the future for the Detroit Lions, but on Monday it was made it official when he and the team signed a five-year contract extension worth $135 million. It is the largest such deal in NFL history, surpassing Derek Carr of Oakland\u2019s deal for $125 million, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":57575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Detroit QB Matthew Stafford Signs Biggest Contract in NFL History, $135M<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n