Calvin Johnson, the Detroit Lions‘ all-time leading receiver has announced his retirement from the NFL.
The announcement comes via the Detroit Lions who were expecting a final decision on the nine-year veteran’s future ahead of the new league year which begins at 4PM ET Wednesday. This news also comes amid weeks of speculation that the six-time Pro Bowler would hang up his cleats as injury began to take a toll on his overall production.
But despite the injuries, Johnson still undoubtedly had a place in the NFL.
The 30-year old Johnson made 88 receptions for 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns this past season giving him seven total 1,000 plus yard season during his what’s assumed to be a Hall of Fame career. Not to mention, Johnson was ranked in the top five (5th overall) in the Pro Football Focus grading system that put him behind Antonio Brown of the Steelers, Julio Jones of the Falcons, Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals and DeAndre Hopkins of the Texans.
However what Megatron could still do on the field, the financial hurdles he presented to the Lions was just too much for a team trying to rebuild themselves with new team general manager Bob Quinn.
Heading into 2016, Johnson had four-years remaining on his contract which included base salaries totaling $67.7 million dollars. Now not all of that is guaranteed money however if the Lions were serious about building a team that could be competitive on the field it was clear a restructured contract would be necessary to keep Calvin around, in which case any cap hit would be converted into salary bonuses for Johnson which is guaranteed and would have cost the Lions a ton of money.
Aside from this being the best possible outcome for Detroit, since fans won’t have to see Calvin playing for another team and Bob Quinn isn’t labeled as the guy who told Megatron he could no longer play for Detroit, it still stings for Lions fans.
The Barry Sanders comparisons with Calvin are real. Sure many could see Calvin’s retirement coming more so than Barry’s however both left arguably still in the tailing end of their primes. That’s not easy for a lot of fans who have seen the best two offensive players in Lions history walk away from the game with something still left in the tank.
Either way, Calvin Johnson finishes his NFL career with 731 receptions for 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns and a lock for Canton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q_bkB6gfJ8
h/t: Bleacher Report, Pro Football Focus
