While NFL free agency doesn't officially begin until next month, and Calvin Johnson will not be a free agent, the Lions are working hard to get one of the best wide receivers locked up for the foreseeable future. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Megatron's agent will meet with the Lions on Saturday, hoping to hammer out a long-term deal:
"We’ll see where it goes, but we’ll certainly work toward trying to get it done and get it done quickly," Cook said. "Hopefully, we can get something done in the next few weeks."
Johnson is entering his final year of his rookie contract, which will hit the team's cap at about $22.5 million. The Lions are making headway in extending Johnson, but they also have to consider maintaining financial flexibility while doing so:
"We can handle Calvin's numbers - we have to," Mayhew said Friday morning at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianpolis. "Obviously, we have a lot more flexibility having more cap room, so we have a desire to get that done. But we have a way to handle his number."
That number ultimately may very well make him the highest paid receiver in the NFL, but Lions head coach Jim Schwartz wants everyone to understand that it's not as simple as throwing a lot of money at Johnson despite both sides wanting the same end result:
"We still have a long way to go before we're in that situation, but Calvin is important to us," Schwartz said. "We talked about a couple of guys being in there that are important to us. Calvin is obviously important to us, but it's not as easy as just saying we want him around, and he wants to be around. There's a lot more to it. Hopefully, when it's all said and done he'll be a Lion for life."
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