Lions re-sign Backus but deal not as big as some think.

Some in the Lions organization are not convinced that Jeff Backus is the end all solution at tackle. That said you will hear a lot of dollar signs, but it is not as big as you would think. It is a 6 year deal, but a source close to the situation told me that "this deal is not a huge guranteed deal Hondo. If he does not perform and take his play up a notch the Lions can get out of this thing without to much pain." Remember people that the length of a deal is rarely reached in the NFL. The Lions can cut him and take a cap hit for one year, but it would be relativley painless considering if they let him go and he went on to star. Once again Matt handled this the right way.

There was not a lot of people (including me) who thought he was not a long term guy at stupid money. Just like twoyears ago with Stockar McDougle. They wanted to resign Stockar but they didn't mortgage the farm.  They wanted Backus but not for stupid money. Millen franchised him and over paid this season, but got him at a very affordable rate for the future. After this season, if they can upgrade they will if Backus doesn't perform. Again, don't panic like I did when I heard the numbers, they are not as bad as thought.

Like my source said: "this team is thinking long term, and if he plays like a stud, he will get the cash, and if he plays like last year, he won't." Thank God! The source added: "Jeff is pretty confident that he will play better and he liked what he saw in the mini camp from the new coaching staff. He knows he has to step up his game to get his jack, and Millen and Marinelli didn't hide that. Jeff is glad that Detroit made the commitment and he is confident he can perform."

I would love for Jeff to step up his game he is a good guy, but I also like that the Lions didn't blink and got a deal that they can live with if he doesn't. Again many in the media will attack Millen, that is the easy thing to do if your lazy and don't dig and look at the details on this issue. I did look and they aren't as bad as feared. I waited to write about this (it is now 2:00 a.m.) until after talking to people near it so I could break it down right for you.