Was Calvin Johnson's contract a smart move?
 

This is late, but all the contract talk with Bowe got me thinking.

I know the idiom is that you lock up the franchise players, etc etc. And that you can't let a guy with Hall of Fame potential walk.

That said: seven years, $132 million with $60 million guaranteed.

That's more than virtually every QB in the league gets.

It's one receiver -- the Saints put two corners on him at the goal line and compressed his space so badly, he just stood there instead of running an actual route.

I love Megatron -- clearly the most physically talented receiver ever.

But I think there comes a point where your team can get frozen into top-end contracts and force to scrape from the bargain bin everywhere else as a result.

Meanwhile, the entire Chiefs WR corps is less than that, even including the ostensible new contract Bowe will get.

Do you like this contract? Smart move by the Lions?

He's the best WR in the league and he's 26.

No issues.

I love the guy.

You can get the best WR corps in the league, not just one guy, for $130 million, though.

You can get the two best passrushers in the league. You can get an entire offensive line.

Wow. That contract is huge. I say pay him whatever he wants.

You're simplifying it a little bit.

There's not a Steve Breaston, Dwayne Bowe and Jon Baldwin sitting out there waiting to sign for $130 million.

I'm kind of torn on this actually. He's a hell of a talent, but yeah...that is a loooooot of dough.

You can get all three, plus one more red-chip contributor, for $130 million total.

Probably with room to spare.

That 130 mil is probably pretty deceiving, anyway.

I'd like to see how that's structured.

$60 million guaranteed, though.

Not if they're not available in free agency.

It's not as simple as you're making it out to be.

If it was that easy to get three awesome WRs a lot of teams would be set.

As long as they are employing Gun, they need all the firepower they can get.

Let's look at the contracts of the best WRs on this market in 2012:

Bowe, Welker and Wallace do not have contracts yet...

VJax: 5 years, $55 million; $36 million guaranteed
Stevie Johnson: 5 years, $36.25 million; $19.5 million guaranteed
Desean Jackson: 5 years, $51 million
Reggie Wayne: 3 years, $17.5 million

Just to add another mid-level player in Josh Morgan: 5 years, $12 million

So you can get VJax, Desean Jackson, and Reggie Wayne for about what you get Megatron for.

Or, you can throw out Reggie Wayne and replace with a decent mid-level dude in Josh Morgan and have tons of room to spare.

when you have a team with little holes to fill you can afford to pay your biggest playmaker.

The LIONS?

The Lions have plenty of holes. We're more put-together than the Lions are.

Megatron is special and isn't easily replaced by even two WR's. Sure you could put together a better unit, but the matchups he creates because of his physical talents, along with the fact that he's nearly unstoppable make him worth the $$....at least to me.