Source Claims Lions Haven’t Made A Final Decision

Our pal Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com takes issue with our recent report that the Lions have decided to select Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick in the 2009 draft. Citing an unnamed league source, Kowalski says that they haven’t made a final decision due to the “signability” factor. Basically, the Lions want the No. 1 overall pick to be under contract before his name is called, which would avoid the kind of holdout that kept the first overall pick from two years ago, JaMarcus Russell, out of camp until September. Our guess is that Kowalski’s source is someone in the Detroit front office. Really, who else would know that the team hopes to draft only a guy who is under contract? Kowalski’s report reinforces our belief that the information we received regarding Stafford being the target isn’t a smokescreen. We now think the Lions want Stafford, and that they’re trying to make his agent think they don’t in order to get Stafford signed. The question becomes whether at some point the Lions would reverse course, if they can’t work out a deal with Stafford and if another player is willing to give them a significant discount in exchange for the privilege of being the first overall pick in the draft. The reality, however, is that the CBA and the rules of the rookie salary pool place a ceiling on the maximum contract that the first overall pick can receive, especially as it relates to guaranteed money. So unless there’s a fundamental disagreement between the Lions and Stafford’s agent as to the maximum permissible number in light of the rules currently on the books, they should be able to get a deal done before the draft starts in 15 days.