Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson still has two years remaining on the six-year contract he signed after Detroit made him the No. 2 overall pick in 2007. But if the Lions don't make a turnaround and begin to win some games by the time that contract runs out, would Johnson still consider sticking around and re-signing with the team?
↵Johnson was asked that very question on his weekly radio appearance on Detroit's 97.1 (WXYT-FM).
↵↵↵↵"Put it like this, if we turn this thing into a winner, I’m happy," Johnson said. "I’ve won 11 games since I’ve been here in four years. Losing definitely sucks, and you definitely don’t want to be around losing. You can’t get used to that. I can’t get used to it because I haven’t come from that.
↵"I’ve been used to winning. And if this thing can’t get turned around, man, like I said — I’m just going to leave it at I can’t get used to it. I want to win."
↵
Johnson would also like to see the Lions' offensive coaching staff come up with more ways to get him the ball against certain schemes. For instance, last Sunday against the Chicago Bears, when he had only three catches (and was targeted five times).
↵↵↵"I don’t understand, teams tend to play a lot of Cover 2, our receptions go down. We got to come up with something for it. They were playing Cover 2 for most of the game."
↵
That performance, as well as notching only 13 receptions in the Lions' last three games, surely compelled those remarks.
↵For the season thus far, Johnson has 62 catches for 872 yards and 12 touchdowns. (If not for a poorly written NFL rule about "completing the process" of the catch, of course, Johnson would have at least 13 touchdowns.)
↵Johnson will be the Lions' highest-paid player during the last two years of his contract, in which he'll be paid almost $23 million.