With summer here and the Lions wrapping up another round of OTAs it would seem that there would be some type of progress being made in contract negotiations with defensive end Cliff Avril.
Unfortunately though it looks as though both sides are at a stand still saying the ball is in the oppositions court.
Tom Lewand and the Detroit Lions are looking for Avril to sign a one-year tender worth $10.6 million dollars while Avril is looking for a long-term deal with a big signing bonus after a huge 2011 season.
“Obviously, we have the tender on Cliff, and he’s welcome to sign that anytime he wants,” Lions president Tom Lewand said Wednesday, via Anwar Richardson of MLive.com. “We’ll continue discussion on whether we can convert that into something on a long-term basis, but really in many ways of the tender, the ball is in his court.”
Avril see’s things differently…
“It’s up to Tom,” Avril responded to Lewand’s comments, per Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “It’s up to Tom, and see where we can go with that.”
Avril further mentioned that he isn’t worried about his absence from OTAs or the ongoing negotiations.
“Things will work themselves out,” said an optimistic Avril. “I don’t stress out about it. It’s a business and you can’t get mad about it. … Hopefully, I’m there for the start of camp.”
The two sides still have until July 16th to work out a long-term deal where as after that Avril will only be able to sign the one-year tender for the 2012 season.
Ref: ProFootballTalk.com, Detroit Free Press, Mlive.com