The Detroit Lions really want Cliff Avril to remain in their jersey come the 2012 season; the star defensive lineman had 11 sacks in 2011 to lead their powerful line. Cliff Avril has said that he wants to remain a Lion as well, but he's also said that he doesn't want to play for them at a discount.
Time is starting to run a bit short for the Lions if they want to keep Cliff Avril around. If they don't either sign him or slap the franchise tag on Avril by March 5, he will hit free agency on March 13 and you can be sure there will be a lot of teams less frugal than the Lions knocking at his door to pick him up.
Avril has already stated that he does not want to be franchise tagged, so the Lions are in a bit of a tight spot with their salaries increasing. It's now a race against the clock, on March 5 the feeding frenzy will begin for what will be one of the biggest free agent names this side of Peyton Manning.
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