Barry wanted out. And Calvin wanted out. Did we screw them over?

[farmerted]

But with the Lions…

[Weaselpuppy]

And can we please pull the initials of that bumbling old fool off the jerseys?

He’s not George Halas, he’s Mr. Magoo with a bankroll.

[Weaselpuppy]

@REMRebound

Are we so pathetic we can’t even imagine alternate histories better than “Our star players still want to leave, but we’re nice about it

1

[JCHeff1979]

Those drive me frigging nuts. He was not a good owner. Remotely.

[stephenboyd57]

@Hins0042

Not only that, I am certain it had a chilling effect on free agent negotiations. If you can’t take care of your stars, why do I want to enter that mess?

That is a very good point. Perhaps with the way B. Holmes and Sheila handled the Stafford trade, it’ll help the reputation of the franchise moving forward. Hopefully!

[FreebirdPartDeux]

Sanders, yes. Jimmy Johnson wanted him down in Miami, but old man Ford couldn’t part with the greatest player in NFL history.

Calvin, no. Entirely different story.

Calvin is at it again

One wonders how much of this is revisionist history and/or a matter of timing. January 2016 According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Detroit Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson told his inner circle before the 2015 season he would retire at the end of the year. After the season, Johnson, 30, gave Lions coach Jim Caldwell the same message. After nine seasons in the NFL, Johnson’s body is beaten down. The five-time Pro Bowler has battled lingering ankle injuries and general body sorenes…

Calvin is at it again

What doesn’t make sense though is the Lions were coming off an 11-5 season (the best of Calvin’s career) and a playoff appearance. The story is that he decided to retire before the 2015 season. If health and injuries were the reason, that makes sense. However, the idea that the Lions had no chance, at least at that point in the timeline, doesn’t hold water. That being said, Calvin, like anyone else, has a right to change his mind. So, it may very well be that after the 2015 season, he felt…

[Motorcitymaniac]

@lifetimelion

I think this is why the current management of the Lions is so important. They want to change that culture. It’s been around forever. Anybody remember when Ron Jessie played out his contract with Detroit and signed with the Rams? Roselle awarded the Lions Cullen Bryant and he promptly sued the league NOT to play for Detroit? They Lions were planning on drafting Deon Sanders until Barry declared for the draft. Deon stated he wouldn’t play for Detroit. They drafted Barry and he didn’t sign right off because of Russ Thomas lowballing him. Joe Schmidt was building a good Lions team but I read he even retired because he was sick of fighting with Thomas trying to get good players. Then add in the ineptitude of the organization.
Honoring Stafford’s request for a trade and making amends with Calvin can (has) help with player relations. DC is getting rave reviews from players, now they need to build a winner. Maybe then the curse of WCF will be broken. Calvin and Barry are huge stains, but they are not the only ones.

Deon said, if he is drafted by Detroit he is going to ask for so much money they will have to put him on layaway. lol

[Martymcfly2017]

Heck no. Barry maybe a little, but Calvin resigned with us and he didn’t have to. Man making millions now means people are getting screwed

[FreebirdPartDeux]

True

[Wolfhound32]

@Huskerdoo

I’m hoping this is a sign that Shiela and the Lions as an organization have learned from the prior mistakes.

I’ve separated the old Lions under WCF and MFF, from what we now have under Shelia.

Before Sheila

So the media of course is going to focus on BS…not what’s going on now.

They can pound sand with caustic shit.

[Richard_Parker]

@Nate

Matt was able to “Get out of Alcatraz,” according to Mike Florio.

Barry and Calvin wanted out, and the org was not cool with those requests.

One of my themes with supporting Matt has been Detroit’s terrible history. Well, Matt isn’t the first to ask out. He isn’t the first to say, “I’ve given it my all here, I want to finish elsewhere.” But he was the first to be granted it.

This makes me really reflect A LOT on Sanders and Calvin and their careers. And as painful it would’ve been, at the end of the day, it was PETTY AS HELL of Detroit ownership, and they should’ve granted them their trades.

I wonder how the forum would’ve reacted to those players, and frankly, it makes me worried for the future (then I injected myself with @BigNatty’s optimism).

Don’t want to make this about Matt, but I wonder what it would’ve looked like if Barry and Calvin went elsewhere. What would they have done elsewhere? How would you have handled it?

I think the difference is who was in charge of the front office at the time. Chuck Schmidt was a dick and he was vindictive. With Calvin he had Bob whatshisface right?? Oh Quinn…my bad. Brad Holmes, perhaps, was trying to help out his old team while trying to get draft capital for his rebuild. Right now I’ll give Brad Holmes credit for being smart enough to look towards the future instead being a stubborn ass trying to hang on to old star power

[Motorcitymaniac]

@Wolfhound32

@Huskerdoo

I’m hoping this is a sign that Shiela and the Lions as an organization have learned from the prior mistakes.

I’ve separated the old Lions under WCF and MFF, from what we now have under Shelia.

Before Sheila

So the media of course is going to focus on BS…not what’s going on now.

They can pound sand with caustic shit.

What has Shiela done except for inherit a franchise paid for with her great grandfathers money. We are picking 2nd in the draft, I don’t get the reasoning that things are different under Shiela.

[REMRebound]

@Richard_Parker

With Calvin he had Bob whatshisface right?? Oh Quinn…my bad.

Just to set the record straight, the word is that Rod Wood was the guy who handled that one.

[NowFromTN]

Uh well she signed off on trading Stafford, how’s that?

And she has seemed to have brought in a competent GM and Coach (time will tell but so far much better than the last 20 years of GM’s/coaches)

[Richard_Parker]

@REMRebound

@Richard_Parker

With Calvin he had Bob whatshisface right?? Oh Quinn…my bad.

Just to set the record straight, the word is that Rod Wood was the guy who handled that one.

Copy that…I stand corrected!

[CuriousHusker]

[Wolfhound32]

@Motorcitymaniac

What has Shiela done except for inherit a franchise paid for with her great grandfathers money. We are picking 2nd in the draft, I don’t get the reasoning that things are different under Shiela.

Because we’re at the beginning of something new. Everyone knew this year was the beginning of the rebuild. So the record should not be a shock…shit some people are pissed that the winning at the end of the season screwed us of 1OA.

With a new Owner, GM (basically the entire front office), Coaching staff and even the QB…this seems like a pretty easy delineation point from old and the new. The football I saw in December and January give me reason to believe this is different than what I’ve seen in the past. What transpires this offseason is HUGE…what we see on the field next season needs to be much improved.

The reason I am making this point is because I want Shelia to stand on her own account. If her leadership is no better than WCF or MFF…then she belongs in the same dumpster fire bucket as her parents. Whatever…SOL

[Motorcitymaniac]

@NowFromTN

Uh well she signed off on trading Stafford, how’s that?

And she has seemed to have brought in a competent GM and Coach (time will tell but so far much better than the last 20 years of GM’s/coaches)

Trading away a QB good enough to take another team to the SB is a good thing? Then she lets Stafford pick his location instead taking the best deal? I would have rather had the Carolina deal and ended up with Sewell & Parsons.

[Mobetta20]

We didn’t screw Barry and Calvin. We screwed ourselves for not using them to leverage picks for our future. That’s why the Lions were also the laughingstock of the league.

[QBHATER90]

I don’t think they got “screwed over” they signed a contract and didn’t want o honor it. That being said, I wish the lions had traded each player to go find success like stafford was given a chance at……I do think it’s kinda petty on the part of the lions……but to me they didn’t screw em over……….