quote:Lions defensive end Cliff Avril is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, and he says he’s hoping a long-term deal can get done to stay in Detroit.
But the Lions have an awful lot of money tied up in their defensive line right now, and it raises the question of how much money they can afford to give one more defensive lineman.
“There’s a lot of money in my position group,” Avril told MLive.com. “I don’t know. It might just be a financial thing. I don’t know. It’s my first time going through free agency, so I don’t really know how this thing works upstairs.”
With Avril’s fellow starting defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch scheduled to make $5 million next season, and starting defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams getting $9.25 million and $4.9 million respectively, a huge contract for Avril would give the Lions an extremely expensive defensive line.
In 2011: 11 sacks 6 FF's 36 Tackles 1 INT
Age 25.
No idea if he is athletic enough or has the ability to play in a 3-4. Jenkins was able to both. Kampman really was not.
Assuming Collins is done, GB would need to find a quality DE, ROLB, and a Safety going into 2012 to turn this defense around. You likely could throw in CB as well.
As good as TT is in drafts, IMO that's a tall order to try and do all of that purely in a draft.
We all understand TT's philosophy with FA and he does not get into bidding wars. Still you have to wonder if this is a year he finds his next Woodson or Pickett via FA.
