Blog > Sports > Football > Detroit Lions Sign Matt Stafford

Detroit Lions Sign Matt Stafford

Posted on April 25, 2009

Sources have announced that the Detroit Lions have signed Matt Stafford as the #1 overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. NFL.com, SI, Yahoo, and FOXSports.com have all posted the story with different details. All say Matt will receive $41.7 million dollars in guaranteed money.

Matt Stafford Is Playing Coy

NEW YORK — The whispers are that the deal could be done tonight, or already is done, but for some i-dotting and t-crossing. Peter King tells us to take it to the bank: Matthew Stafford is “going to be a Detroit Lion.”

It’s been an open secret for days that Stafford, the former Georgia quarterback, is in serious negotiations with the Lions and is very likely to be the No. 1 pick in Saturday’s NFL draft. Mark Sanchez is telling anybody who’ll listen that Stafford-to-Detroit is a done deal. Aaron Curry, while still hoping it will be him, seems resigned to Stafford as the No. 1 pick.

The only one who’s pretending not to know anything about all of this is Stafford, who told us with a straight face this afternoon that he hasn’t been paying it any attention.

“I know they’ve all been working hard on it, but honestly, I’m out of the loop,” Stafford said around noon as he and other prospective draftees hosted an NFL-sponsored clinic for kids in sun-splashed Central Park. “I’ve been trying to stay out of it.”

This may take the cake. At this point, it’s become clear that anything anybody says in the days before the draft is at best a smokescreen and more likely a lie. But for Stafford to stand there and tell us he hadn’t talked to his agent since last night and wasn’t concerned about whether he got his deal done with Detroit before the draft started might be the toughest bit of misinformation any of us has been asked to swallow. I guess you give the kid a break because what’s he supposed to say, but jeez. These agents really have these guys trained, don’t they?

Matthew Stafford top dog in NFL draft, but not the top interest

Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford has been tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft today, but that other quarterback — USC’s Mark Sanchez — figures to be the guy a bunch of teams will be chasing once Commissioner Roger Goodell kicks off the proceedings at 4 p.m.

The first two rounds will go off today, with Rounds 3-7 set for Sunday, beginning at 11 a.m.

The Detroit Lions, whose reward for their infamous 0-16 season in 2008 is the first selection, were committed to taking Stafford. ESPN reported late Friday that Stafford and the Lions agreed to a 6-year deal that will pay the former Bulldog $41.7 million in guarantees and as much as $78 million.

Whether Stafford is worthy of the investment certainly is debatable, but it’s a question that won’t be answered for years.

Categories: Football
Tags:

Leave Comment

(required)

(required)