Calvin Johnson has heard the rumors. He is well-aware the Detroit Lions will undergo some rebuilding in the offseason and his contract is not wanted in that effort. The wide receiver has been a face of the franchise for the Lions, but Detroit might no longer be able to afford to keep him on the pay roll. Johnson stresses he is not thinking about those kinds of things right now, but would like to stick with the Lions for his whole career.
Johnson will be owed $15.95 million as a base salary next season with a salary cap charge of $24 million. That is not wanted by a rebuilding team like Detroit. If the Lions were to release the receiver they would save $11 million. That is an enticing move to make and with a new general manager and potentially new coaching staff set to come in within the next month, anything is possible. Johnson is aware of the situation, but is making it known that he prefers to stay put.
"That'd be lovely," Johnson said, via the Detroit Free Press. "I'll think about it more when the time comes. If that time comes, whatever happens, happens. But not now. We still have our same coaches and we're going to continue moving forward and all I can worry about right now is the game plan that we have."
One way Johnson could stick around is by restructuring his contract and taking a pay cut similar to what Larry Fitzgerald. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Johnson has no interest in taking a pay cut, confident that he is still one of the best receivers in the NFL. That has not been the case this year as he averages a career-low 13.8 yards per catch. The Lions will have a tough decision to make when it comes to Johnson as they could be forced to decide between the receiver and quarterback Matthew Stafford who is also signed to a contract harmful to rebuilding.
The Lions do feel good about certain pieces they have for the future. Rookie Ameer Abdullah is proving that he can take over the run game with ease. With Joique Bell and Theo Riddick both having just one year remaining on their current contracts, Abdullah will take over in 2016. The same can be said for Eric Ebron as Brandon Pettigrew is a roster-cut target in 2016. The Lions will have some decisions to make in the coming weeks and many of them will revolve around what happens to Johnson and his large contract.
