Last week, Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch was seen on crutches around Allen Park. Despite the fact that he was dealing with knee tendinitis, he said he had every intention of  participating in OTAs, which started Monday.

When Monday came and went without any sign of Tulloch, we eventually learned that he would in fact miss the entire month of May in order to heal his injury. Head coach Jim Schwartz even said Tulloch could miss three to four weeks.

But Tulloch wants to get back sooner, saying he hopes to return to Allen Park for minicamp June 12-14.

“It’s just a little spot,” he said. “The whole knee is perfectly fine, it’s just one spot, which is important ’cause it’s your get-off. I just want to take precautions when it comes to that, so I can give 100-percent effort throughout the season and not have to worry about it. It’s something that coach decided to hold me out and rest and get ready for the season.”

Ashlee Palmer took first team reps in Tulloch’s absence.

You can find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MelissaHeyboer and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barrysandersmemorialblog.

Via @stephentulloch

Not counting Calvin Johnson, the Lions most important move this off season (in my humble opinion, of course) was re-signing linebacker Stephen Tulloch.

But with so much emphasis placed on Cliff Avril and so little room to spare in the salary cap, it didn’t look like it was likely to ever happen.

Well it did. And I’m not the only one who’s stoked about it. Tulloch is, too.

“This is the first time in my career where I actually love coming to work everyday,” Tulloch said during his press conference Thursday. “Being around these guys in the locker room, I can’t wait until the next day. I’m just excited to keep building on what we have. To see our offense the way it is and see our defense coming around. This team and this community has a lot to be excited about with the Detroit Lions.”

And he has good reason to be excited too, considering his new five-year deal is reportedly worth $25.5 million.

Tulloch signed a five-year contract worth $25.5 million, with $11.25 million guaranteed, according to sources. That gives Tulloch an average salary of $5 million a year.

That’s about $1 million less than Tulloch originally stated he wanted. But even he’s not complaining. Those numbers are nothing to scoff at. And, like he says, it’s about playing the game of football — not money. » Continue reading “Stephen Tulloch’s Deal Reportedly Worth $25.5 Million”

Assuming the Detroit Lions draft a cornerback (and perhaps an entirely new offensive line) with their first pick in the 2012 draft, I will officially have had all my prayers answered this off season. That is because Stephen Tulloch was reportedly re-signed to a five-year deal this afternoon.

*Does happy dance*

Tulloch had this reaction via Twitter:

The signing comes just one day after general manager Martin Mayhew said the talks with Tulloch were progressing well. Nevertheless, it was slow goings between the two sides for awhile, and I personally was preparing for Tulloch to no longer be a Detroit Lion. Thankfully, some restructuring of contracts helped free up some much needed salary cap space and the Tulloch deal was able to get done. » Continue reading “Lions Re-Sign Stephen Tulloch to Five-Year Deal”

The Lions have been doing exactly what they had hoped to be doing during this free agency period — make sure they re-sign players of importance. That continued today as Detroit re-signed backup quarterback Shaun Hill and veteran offensive tackle Jeff Backus.

Both Backus and Hill reportedly signed two-year deals. Hill spent Friday in St. Louis visiting the Rams at the same time Drew Stanton was in New York visiting the Jets.

When Stanton signed his deal with the Jets yesterday, it became even more important for Detroit to act on Hill quickly. Luckily, Hill decided backing up Matthew Stafford was more appealing than Sam Bradford. Can you blame him?

In addition to Hill, the Lions also re-signed Backus to a two-year deal.

Backus’ deal is worth $10 million, according to ESPN. The financial terms on Hill’s deal were not immediately known.

Of all the “top priority free agents” Stephen Tulloch is the only who remains unsigned. Last I heard both sides wanted the deal to happen it’s just a matter of if it will — and when.

You can find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MelissaHeyboer and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barrysandersmemorialblog.

Oh, hey LaRon Landry. So, uh, you're rather large.

Happy official first day of the 2012 NFL season, everyone. As of 4 p.m. ET today (err, yesterday), free agency started and the entire football nation went nuts. Except the Detroit Lions. Because, well, they don’t have any money.

What they do have, however, is unrestricted free agents. As of right now, all those free agents are still officially with the Lions. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of rumors today about what could potentially happen over the coming days, weeks, and months. Here’s a rundown of the first day of free agency.

Deep breath, guys.

• Shaun Hill is reportedly set to visit the St. Louis Rams. Hill has expressed interest in staying in Detroit, but you can’t blame the guy for wanting to test the waters.
• Speaking of backup QBs, Drew Stanton is also reportedly set to visit the New York Jets in a couple days. Like Hill, Stanton is also open to saying in Detroit.
• The Lions are reportedly interested in free agent safety LaRon Landry, though no visits have been scheduled as of yet. I would have absolutely zero problem with this. He’s like the size of Vin Diesel, only bigger, and without the awful acting repertoire to back it up. Which doesn’t mean he can play football. But dear Lord. (Pictured above). » Continue reading “I Got a Fever. And the Only Prescription is More Free Agency”

The new NFL year officially starts tomorrow, and the Detroit Lions needed to restructure a few deals in order to get below their $120.6 million salary cap space. It was reported that Detroit was $11.55 million over.

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported today that the contracts of Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh, and Nate Burleson have all been restructured.

Restructuring essentially converts salaries into signing bonuses, which is good for this year, but will take up more cap space in the future. » Continue reading “Matthew Stafford, Nate Burleson, Ndamukong Suh Get Restructured Contracts”

The opportunity for teams to start franchising players began Monday, Feb. 20. As of Thursday at around 4 p.m., not a single NFL team had issued a franchise tag to one of their players. That’s 11 long days of silence.

And then … boom!

Fast forward one day and the Interwebs were all aflutter with the bombardment of franchise tag announcements. As of Friday night, 10 players had been tagged and Adam Schefter reported Friday morning on SportsCenter that as many as 25 tags could be used by March 5 — the last day to issue a one.

The NFL has a creepy way of going from 0 to 60 in no time at all.

That was proved positive today when franchise tags started rolling in like it was the eleventh hour. So far, DeSean Jackson (Eagles), Tyvon Branch (Raiders), Calais Campbell (Cardinals), Ray Rice (Ravens), Fred Davis (Redskins), Dashon Goldson (49ers), Brent Grimes (Falcons), K Phil Dawson (Browns), Mike Nugent (Bengals), and Matt Forte (Bears). » Continue reading “Franchise Tags for Everyone! Weeeee!”

The situation surrounding Detroit Lions tackle Jeff Backus is a peculiar one.

On any given Sunday, fans can be heard cursing Backus’ sometimes questionable play on the football field. But when it comes right down to it, we all know he’s probably the best man for the job.

His 11 years at left tackle is not a reason to re-sign him alone. But when you look at the consistency and durability he’s provided for more than a decade, it’s hard to provide a compelling argument for releasing him. Are there better tackles in the NFL? Sure. Are there better tackles available in the upcoming draft? Most likely. But that doesn’t mean they can, or should, try to get one to replace Backus this year.

Here’s why:

1. The Lions have more pressing needs in the draft. While Backus is still serviceable, the Lions need to focus their attention on positions of need (i.e. cornerback, safety, linebacker). That’s not to say Detroit doesn’t need help with their aging offensive line, but for me, it’s not the most glaring weakness on the field. » Continue reading “The Decision to Bring Backus Back”

With the season ending last week, things have been kind of quiet around Lions camp. Players have cleaned out their lockers and the front office has begun focusing on what’s in store for the upcoming season.

As I posted earlier, General Manager Martin Mayhew spoke with media this afternoon about the past season and what can be expected during the offseason. Apart from the re-signing of Detroit’s three coordinators, Mayhew had a few other news and notes of importance. In this post, we’ll talk about the Mayhew meeting and what he sees as the Lions top priorities this offseason.

• With a bicep injury and subsequent surgery to end the 2011 season, the future was looking mighty unclear for defensive tackle Jeff Backus. Backus has already said he would like to return to the Lions next season, and today Mayhew said the feeling is mutual. If he were to return, it would be the 12th season Backus will have spent as a Detroit Lion.

• In addition, Mayhew said he wants to resign several other players as well, and said that having so many free agents isn’t necessarily a bad problem for a team to have. I tend to agree. Though, I would like to see most everyone resigned, and we all know that’s probably not going to happen. » Continue reading “Mayhew Discusses Draft, Contract Extensions at Press Conference”