[bears9]

The Detroit Lions reached an agreement Friday night with Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford to make him the first pick in the NFL draft on Saturday.

According to a source, Stafford will receive a six-year, $72 million deal with $41.7 million guaranteed. The contract could be worth as much as $78 million if Stafford achieves all of his playing incentives. The guaranteed money tops the $41 million in guarantees Albert Haynesworth received from the Washington Redskins earlier this offseason.


The Lions intensified negotiations for Stafford over the past three days, knowing they also could reach a less expensive deal with Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry. After Curry's agents visited Detroit's minicamp over the weekend, Lions president Tom Lewand focused on Stafford.

The Stafford deal is the richest given to a draft choice in history, topping the five-year, $57.5 million contract the Dolphins gave to tackle Jake Long last season and the six-year, $72 million contract Matt Ryan received from the Atlanta Falcons.

Sources: Matthew Stafford agrees to $41.7M, six-year deal with Detroit Lions - ESPN

[Bette]

Stafford got his first boos today.
Guess LIons' fans wanted anybody who wasnt a quarterback.

[mike honcho]

I figured they would be out of boo's after the way last year went.

[Full Cougar]

I still think it's the way to go. They need to start anew. It will take time. But it starts with a QB they have faith in.

[bears9]

I think he is too and he'll have a lot of weapons, Calvin Johnson is one of the three best wide outs in football, they also drafted Brandon Pettigrew from Oklahoma State who will be really good. Plus he has a running game back-up, Kevin Smith ran for 1,000 yards last year. They're builting a nice offense now maybe the could add some line help in day 2