Ready to Roll
With a New CBA, the Lions are Anticipating the Start of Free Agency on Saturday
| After numerous delays due to NFL negotiations, Executive VP & COO Tom Lewand and the Lions are ready to get rolling in free agency. (Photo by Steve Kovich) |
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- After numerous delays due to NFL negotiations, free agency is underway as of Saturday, March 11. Throughout the negotiation process, Detroit Lions Executive Vice President and COO Tom Lewand stated that the Lions organization would be ready for whatever circumstances may arise. The one constant was that Head Coach Rod Marinelli and the Lions simply wanted to get going for the 2006 season.
“We felt very comfortable under either set of rules,” said Lewand. “As I’ve said before, we would have been fine to execute a plan under the last capped year rules and we’re fine to execute a plan under the new rules. We’re just looking forward to getting going.”
It was unclear up until Wednesday evening what set of rules the NFL would be playing under for the 2006 season. The speculation as to whether certain teams would gain an advantage one way or the other went on all last week, but Lewand says this new agreement will affect all teams the same.
“It’s just a new set of rules,” said Lewand. “We’ve got more cap room, so do the other teams. It’s all relative. It’s relative to where we stand to the other 31 teams. We feel good about where we are in that respect and we’re going to continue working; we have been working.”
With a deal having been reached after a good deal of negotiations, many in the NFL are expressing their pride in the NFL’s ability to reach an agreement. Building on something that was started 13 years ago, the CBA is something that makes the NFL unique and allows all teams in the league to compete.
“It’s a tremendous financial commitment,” said Lewand. “It’s amazing to me. It’s an opportunity to continue building what we’ve been building as a league. That’s important. We’ve obviously had labor peace for a long time and that stability and the relationship that we’ve had with the players association has allowed us to do a lot of things on the field and off the field in terms of marketing our game and presenting some great opportunities to the fans that other leagues have not had the opportunity to do.”
Up until Wednesday evening, it was unclear whether the 2006 season would be operating under the existing salary cap or under an increased one. Now, with the new CBA, the salary cap will be increased to $102 million a year from what was expected to be $94.6 million in 2006.
| With free agency beginning Saturday (March 11) at 12:01 a.m., the Lions are turning their attention to free agents on the Detroit roster. (Photo by Steve Kovich) |
“It’s healthy,” said Lewand. “There’s no question. This is a major commitment. It’s got the potential to change the economic landscape of the National Football League and it’s a very important deal and I think one that’s really going to mature over time and take on a lot of shapes that maybe we don’t anticipate right now. It is going to affect how we operate.”
In late February, the Lions placed the franchise tag on tackle Jeff Backus and within hours of the NFL owners approving an extension of the CBA began working to get several of their other key unrestricted free agents under contract before free agency began on Saturday.
“I got home at two in the morning [Thursday] and by 6:30 [a.m.] I was on the phone,” said Lewand. “We’ve been in talks with a lot of our own free agents that we had been in contact with up until the extension. We’ll continue to work diligently towards working with those who we can hopefully reach an agreement with; those who may end up testing the free agent waters and then certainly the players who become free agents at 12:01 (a.m.) on Saturday.”
Over the course of the CBA negotiations, Lewand has made it clear that the Lions are simply ready to produce a winner for the 2006 season. Now, with free agency beginning this weekend, they are looking to build on the talent they already have on the Detroit roster.
“We’re going to look to add the right players for the team,” said Lewand. “I know that sounds clichéd but that’s the truth. Every year is different in terms of the players you have under contract, the players who are available in free agency, the positions that those players play respectively, both on your own team and in free agency.”
