Detroit Lions: Russell Wilson’s contract puts things into perspective

On Friday’s PFT Live, Dan “Big Cat” Katz from Barstool Sports talked about how paying the wrong guys can set a franchise back (04-12-19, “#3”):

"“What we’re talking about here is different than that discussion because Russell Wilson is a franchise quarterback. So, that’s the interesting part of this story. He is not a Kirk Cousins, a Derek Carr, a Matthew Stafford. Where you’re basically saying, ‘we gotta talk ourselves into him being a franchise quarterback.’”"

What is concerning is what Big Cat referred to as ‘talking oneself into’ a guy being a franchise quarterback. That is the worst way to run an organization, but it looks like that is exactly what the Detroit Lions did.

I have personally argued for the Detroit Lions to consider a quarterback with their number eight pick in this year’s draft. If by some miracle quarterback Kyler Murray falls to them in the first round, they have to make the selection without thinking twice. Because Murray has the potential to be special.

What has to happen this season – barring a change at quarterback – is Stafford has to put together a division title and a playoff victory. Anything short of that will keep up the narrative that he was given the contract because the Detroit Lions convinced themselves that they had no other choice.

To be fair, in some respects, the Detroit Lions have wasted some of Stafford’s best years. But Stafford has always been paid at the highest level of his position, and the team around him has never been all that great.

Part of that is due to Stafford going number one in the 2009 NFL Draft, which was two years before the rookie salary cap was finally installed. Now teams have the opportunity to find out what they have before giving out a huge contract. Thankfully, Stafford wasn’t a bust by any means, but he hasn’t shown to be worthy of his consistently high salary either.

Building around Stafford’s salary has never been easy. But the fact remains that Stafford doesn’t have that elite quality needed to raise the play of those around him. That’s what it takes to win. And he may be running out of time.