According to a report by NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora (via Tim Twentyman), the Detroit Lions are shopping cornerback Alphonso Smith to as least one team.
Last season Smith had three interceptions in 11 games playing behind starters Chris Houston, Eric Wright and nickel Aaron Berry.
A second round pick by the Broncos in 2009, the Lions acquired him from Denver in 2010 via trade for tight end Dan Gronkoswki.
Heading into next season, Smith will be in the final year of his contract.
Schwartz, Avril and Megatron contract updates
The Detroit Lions are expected to meet with the representatives of defensive end Cliff Avril and wide-out Calvin Johnson in hopes of working out new contracts down at the NFL combine. Both players had career years last season helping the 10-6 Lions make it to the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season.
Avril, who is heading towards unrestricted free agency this offseason expressed his hopes of staying in Detroit but also expressed his desire to get paid. It’s expected that if the Lions can’t work out a long-term deal with Avril they’ll use the franchise tag on him in which he should get around $10-11 million dollars next season.
Meanwhile Calvin Johnson’s entering the final year of his rookie contract and setting himself up to get a record setting deal for a wide receiver. Lions general manager Martin Mayhew has mentioned that getting a new contract for Johnson is a top priority this offseason seeing that a franchise tag at the end of next season may force the Lions to pay him in upwards of $28 million dollars.
Finally, head coach Jim Schwartz is also entering the final year of his contract. No big updates have come out way in terms of a new contract for the Schwartz only that things are progressing between the two sides.
Ref: DetroitLions.com, NFL.com
