Even though the Lions have refused to comment on contract negotiations, Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com writes that he believes the Lions may be getting close to signing DE Cliff Avril to a long-term extension.
Avril is currently a restricted free agent with a first round tender attached to him. What that means is that if another teams offers him a contract and the Lions don’t match it, that new team would have to give up a first round pick in order to sign him. After this season Avril is on track to become an unrestricted free agent so as Kowalski says, it is definitely in the Lions’ best interest to lock up Avril now.
Now Avril does have this option, and Kowalski points it out himself that he (Avril) can sign a one-year tender with the Lions now and work out a long-term deal later.
“Some of that stuff is still getting ironed out. We’ll figure it out. I think it’ll all work out,” Avril said today as he entered the practice facility.
Source: Mlive.com